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As both a German
and an American citizen, 20-year-old Max Heres has had a great
deal of experience living on two continents.
Born in Austin, Texas, Heres is the son of German citizens who
traveled to the U.S. a few weeks before his birth in 1989 so
that their firstborn would have dual citizenship.
“My dad had traveled a lot in the States when he was young, and he always
wanted his children to have American citizenship,” he explains.
“I was born in Austin, and ended up taking my first trip when I
was three weeks old, to Mexico, on the way back to Germany.”
As a youth in Bad Honnef, Germany, near the city of Bonn, Heres,
like most German children, began attending public school around
the age of six.
“The German system is divided very differently,” he says. “Once
children finish the fourth grade, their teachers get together
and decide where they should spend the next part of their
education, from the fifth to the 13th grade level.”
Students who show strong academic abilities are placed in the
“gymnasium,” or highest level, and are prepped to go to
university. Other students are placed in a “haubtschule,” which
is comparable to a high school education in the States, he says,
while others are routed into the “gesamtschule,” or lowest
academic level, which is comparable to a 10th grade education in
the U.S. |
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“Once you get placed with a group of students, you stay with
them for most of the years you’re in school,” he says, “and
instead of students moving from classroom to classroom, the
teachers move between classrooms. Over that many years, you
develop very good relationships with the students in your
class.”
Before Heres was to enter the 11th grade, he decided that he
wanted to be an exchange student, so he and his father moved
near Canton, Georgia, where he attended American Heritage
Academy for one year and Rome High School during his senior
year.
“Looking back on it, I had some trouble adjusting to the new schools,” he
recalls. “I was used to having all of my classes with the same
group of students. It was very, very different.”
Nonetheless, in 2007 when it was time for him to choose a
college, Heres decided to stay close by and enroll in Dalton
State.
“I really like this school,” he says. “It has very good teachers
and the facilities are nice and clean. And I really like the
math and physics department. In fact, after taking physics with
Dr. Cooley, I decided to switch my major from engineering to
physics.”
His plans are to complete a bachelor’s degree, most likely in
dense matter and computational physics at West Georgia, and then
to enter grad school, pursuing a master’s and a Ph.D., in
physics as well.
“I have a great interest in doing research. I’m currently
working on a project to convert internal combustion vehicles to
hybrid technology. I’ve always liked cars, and I’d like to be
involved with making them more energy efficient.”
His love of cars coincides with his love of driving, and for
taking car trips, a hobby for which he has plentiful
opportunities in the U. S.
“This country is so beautiful. You can drive out west for miles
and miles and everything is so convenient,” he says, noting that
in Europe, driving for four or so hours might mean crossing the
border into a neighboring country, while the geography in the U.
S. is so vast that it’s nearly impossible to see it all.
“In Germany, if I drive for four hours I could be in France, and
in another few hours, I’d end up in Spain. In America, when you
take trips you are using the same currency, speaking the same
language, and although the culture changes slightly from state
to state, it’s not as much a culture shock as going to a
completely new country.”
As an avid traveler and scuba diving enthusiast, Heres has seen
more of the world in his 20 years than most people see in a
lifetime. He’s been a tourist in much of Western Europe, the
Caribbean, Hawaii, the Canary Islands, Thailand, Egypt and more.
But for now, he’s content to make his home in Georgia, while
actively pursuing his educational goals.
“I don’t know what the future will bring. Four years ago, I
never dreamed I would be here. It turned out that I moved to
America and it turned out that I liked physics. So I decided to
stay and am studying it.
“While I don’t know where I’ll end up in the future, I’ll
probably stay around here because I like it here. But, I may end
up back in Germany or anywhere else in the world.”
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