The lunch. The variety of food.The numerous different entree choices. Sushi served in school. That was a surprise for Elijah.

Elijah Edgehill (11) came to America from Germany a few days before school started. His motive was to improve his basketball game and academic studies. Although new to America and Harker, he has adapted to the new environment, and currently lives with senior Eric Holt.

In Germany, he joined an organization called Global Horizons, which had connections with Butch Keller, and he found Harker as the best match for academics and basketball through the program.

Elijah decided to come to the United States when he lost interest in the basketball environment in Germany. He wanted a new approach to basketball and heard that basketball is a lot more competitive here. He chose Harker to also improve his studies in school.

“I knew that it was going to be hard, the basketball side and the academic side, but from school wise, I thought it was going to be easier,” Elijah said, “but it’s not easier. It’s harder.”

The homework load here at Harker was quite a change for Elijah. At the Nelson Mandela school in Berlin, Germany, he hardly had any homework at all; but here, he has homework for almost every single class. Another difference for him was the people. He noticed that in Germany, people are motivated and focused on their goals in life, but they aren’t necessarily as motivated as people at Harker, who have already chosen their academic road.

“Elijah’s in my first period class, and the transition and being acclimated into a U.S. high school is a big challenge,” History teacher Ray Fowler said, “And if Elijah is successfully using the time management program and getting a lot of help from his host family, not just Eric Holt, but the parents as well, because the family is an expert on helping kids succeed in Harker, with that kind of support, time, and effort, Elijah will do great, and he’s doing a good job in my class right now.”

“It feels good that I did this, the big step that I took, going from a school that I knew a lot about and just leaving that behind, leaving my family behind, and just trying to go on the next step of my journey,” Elijah said.

Elijah received a warm welcome from students on his first day as they lent helping hands and guided him to find classrooms. His host family, Sharon Holt, Mike Holt, and Eric Holt, has also been a great help to him, integrating him as smoothly as possible and just being there for him.

“I feel comfortable around them, and I feel that I can share feelings and things that disturb me with them quite easily,” Elijah said.

Eric feels the same way as Elijah. Just as Eric is always there for Elijah, Eric said, “Elijah is just a great friend to me, and I really like having him around, someone to talk to, and someone to play around with.”

“I think in America, he’ll fit in really well, just because he listens to all the same music, dresses the same way, and acts the same, so he’ll have no problem fitting in, and he’s a really nice guy, so he’ll find many friends,” he said.

Although the basketball season has not started yet, Elijah is ready for it and knows what to expect from it.