In August of 2025, Henry Cooper, a student at Northern High, welcomed a German exchange student into his life. A rocky start ended with a brotherhood and an experience neither student will forget.

"At the end of my sophomore year, I learned about the opportunity to host a foreign exchange student. A flyer was distributed around Guilford County Schools to advertise a 16-year-old German boy who needed a home for the upcoming year. The flyer showed a picture of Frederik (Freddy, as I would come to know him) on a podium at a swim meet.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but out of everyone in my family, I was the most eager to host Freddy. After a year without my older brother living at home, I thought having another person around would make things less lonely."