When I was 15 my soccer team participated in a cultural exchange program and traveled to Germany. We stayed with families there who accepted us into their homes, drove us to our matches, and were wonderful hosts. In looking back, it was one of the best educations I could have ever had for seeing the world and understanding different cultures. We visited a barbed wire fence that separated East and West Germany, we toured buildings that were hundreds of years old, rode on the autobahn at 100 miles per hour, and I had my very first real kiss on the streets of Hamburg. When I think back to the effort that my coaches put into organizing the trip, the trust that my parents showed in sending me on the trip, and the graciousness of the families that hosted us, it reminds me of how lucky I was to have this opportunity.