Moving to a different place can be scary. But moving to a whole new country, and learning another language can be even more terrifying.

  Christina Bramer had to experience first hand what it’s like to move, not only once, but multiple times to different places around the world. She had to make many adjustments for her new lifestyle.

  “I was born in Strassburg, Germany. My dad was in the army and he was based there. My parents stayed there for three years and they had my sister first. I was born there, and I lived there for a little bit, and then we moved to Czech Republic. I had a little bit of schooling there, I don’t really remember it, and then after that, my dad got stationed to Kansas, United States. We lived there for a little bit. I remember living in a place called Cabool for a while and then moving to Rolla,” Christina Bramer said.

  After moving to Rolla, Bramer attended a Catholic school where she had a great experience.

  “I went to St.Pats from Pre-K to seventh grade. It was an okay time. If I had to go back, I wouldn’t change it. It kind of changes you in a way, if you take things differently, it can affect you,” Bramer said.

  After seventh grade, Bramer attended junior high for school, and that was a totally different but exciting experience.

  “Coming to the junior high for eighth grade was such a shock. It was so weird. I remember my first day of school, I had super short hair and I wore a lot of colors because I could wear normal clothing! I remember going through my closet and I took all my uniforms out and put them all in plastic bags, [so excited to] finally getting rid of these,” Bramer said.

  Moving to the United States brought many challenges. One of the biggest challenges was learning a different language.

  “I had trouble learning. I had trouble reading and especially with the word “the.” I didn’t understand how that worked. I didn’t catch on [English] till fifth grade. It was hard for me,” Bramer said.

  Even to this day, English is a little confusing for Bramer, but she is able to understand more than she did before.

  “I still don’t understand English sometimes. It’s still kind of hard, but it’s been better than it was before, and I am constantly learning,” Bramer said.