Editor’s note: Paul Shepard, the author of this story, is a contributor to The Glenwood Herald.

Leo Vander left his home in Bremen, located in the north of Germany, on a cold winter morning in early January 2026 and was driven by his parents to Frankfurt. He then flew for 10 hours (5,000+ miles) to Denver, Colorado, where he then took a connecting flight to Little Rock.

He was met late that night at the airport by his initial host family that resides in rural Arkansas near Mt. Ida. Over the course of nearly a day, he had left a metropolis with roughly 900,000 residents and woke up in a community of a few thousand folks.

Looking out at a “different world” that next morning, Leo’s first impression was that “… the air just felt different.”

Talking with his host family and the exchange program representative, Ms. Jeanie Brakefield, he convinced them that it was important for him to attend a local high school with a soccer program. So Ms. Brakefield was able to contact the Polin and Claudia Hernandez family who have children attending Centerpoint, including their son Jessee who plays on the soccer team. Also, the Hernandez family had the prior experience of hosting an exchange high schooler who also played soccer from Spain during the 2023-2024 academic year.

Within a few days, Leo relocated to the Hernandez family and resumed his high school junior year at Centerpoint. He will have two more years of secondary education in Germany as they go 13 years. Leo shared that he has studied English in German schools since the fourth grade, but that he hadn’t spoken English until he arrived in the U.S. He remembers “translating” English to German in his head initially, but that now he is able to “think” in English.

Teddy Qualls, the Centerpoint High School principal, shared, “Whenever we welcome an exchange student, there is always some uncertainty about how they will adjust. It didn’t take long at all for Leo to become a true member of the Centerpoint community. In the brief amount of time he spent with us, Leo has made a lasting impact upon our school. There’s the success of the soccer team this year that he contributed to; he also established a state record for the number of goals scored by a player (6). Leo remained humble and focused on his teammates.”

“Leo is an outstanding student, great teammate, and most importantly, an exceptional young man. CHS is a better place because Leo was here; he will be greatly missed,” added Qualls.

Leo remembers meeting the soccer team, following his first day of classes at Centerpoint.

“It felt like family. I liked what I saw because you could tell the coach and the team really believed in doing things the right way in practice, in preparation,” he said.

Though Leo had just met his team that January afternoon, he shared, “I’ve become very good friends with my teammates and the coaches, especially coach Jacob Roberson.”

An aside, the Centerpoint Knights just completed an historic season with 15 victories, one tie and one loss. They won the program’s first conference championship and proceeded to win two games in the state playoffs before losing 0-1 in the semi-final round to Decatur, the team that won the state championship the following week.

Leo’s most memorable game as a Centerpoint Knight was when he scored those 6 goals (in less than half of game) – a state record. He shared memories of another game, too.

“It was a tough away game against Danville and we managed to score very late in the game for a 5-4 victory,” he said.

He shyly admitted to a “hat trick” — scoring 3 goals– in that game.

Back in Germany, Leo plays on a youth soccer team.

“It’s the off season right now,” Leo said. “The season starts in late summer and goes to January, then starts again through June.”

His weekly routine back home involves practicing twice weekly and playing a game on another day. He goes to the gym two other days and takes one “rest day” each week. His goal is to play soccer professionally, “Like my father did,” Leo shared.

Leo said he feels like a big brother living with the Polin and Claudia Hernandez family. The family has grown very close to Leo, like it had to Andutz, the foreign exchange student from Spain, who stayed with them during the 2023-24 academic year.

“Leo is sweet, kind, easy-going. So, of course it was easy to make him part of the family. The kids love him and they get along very well,” said Claudia.

Polin has helped Leo to appreciate salsa and they joke around frequently. Brandon, the eldest son, “… reminds Leo that he is the older brother and that he has to mind him.”

“Brandon, Jessee and Leo treat each other like brothers,” said Claudia.

Leo doesn’t have a middle name. When he learned of the Hernandez sons having middle names, he said he wanted one too.

“So, we call him Leo Ariel Hernandez; he is like a son to us,” Claudia added.

Leo says he likes being hosted by a Latino family. He admits learning some Spanish and teaching his “brothers” common greetings and sayings in German. “Then, of course,” says Leo, “The food is delicious.”

Leo has enjoyed the easy pace of living in rural Arkansas, doing things like fishing on the Caddo River.

“It’s really peaceful; we just put our phones away and there is no one else out there. It’s not like back home, where it’s a big city,” he said.

He also was surprised that when eating out, “You can get refills on your drinks without paying. You can’t do that over in Germany,” he said.

He shared that he likes the “smallness” of his Arkansas community because, “It’s cool; you see people you know at the store, gas station and other places. That doesn’t happen back home,” Leo said.

Leo also attends New Hope Church in Glenwood with his host family.

“Again, everyone is so friendly”, he stated.

In fact, Leo has made such an impact on his host family, church family and other friends that they had a “farewell” fiesta for him on May 31st. interestingly, his parents are coming to the states to meet his host family and to accompany Leo back home.

“It’s going to be nice to see my parents, but it’s also going to be difficult to say goodbye to everyone here,” Leo sighed.