By Cassidy Crites
Staff writer
Traveling halfway across the world for vacation is stressful enough. Now imagine traveling halfway across the world to an unknown country. The hope is to pursue a college degree while balancing athletics as well.
Approximately 20 international student athletes attend Hutchinson Community College. Included in that group is freshman Leonie Wienkaemper and sophomore Andrew Rios-Ceballos.
Both students chose to come to the United States as student-athletes. Wienkaemper plays on the Hutchinson Community College volleyball team and Rios-Ceballos golfs for HutchCC.
Wienkaemper enjoys the benefits of being able to play volleyball while getting an education.
“The volleyball program is so much better and you can really focus on everything more than when you study in Germany,” Wienkaemper said.
In Germany, getting an education is more important than sports.
“Here in college you can play volleyball and study at the same time, and in Germany you can’t do that,” Wienkaemper said.
Wienkaemper comes from a town in northern Germany called Westerkappeln. She is the first person in her family to travel to the United States.
Although there were nerves, Wienkaemper was confident about this adventure.
“I knew Coach (Patrick) Hall and I had all my teammates’ phone numbers so I wasn’t alone,” Wienkaemper said.
For the most part, Wienkaemper feels as though the adjustment to the United States has been smooth.
Rios-Ceballos traveled from Sydney, Australia to play golf.
“In Australia, it is very tough to become a golfer over there because it is not golf specific. They focus more on rugby,” Rios-Ceballos said.
Rios-Ceballos did not come alone, however. Joining him was his brother, Douglas.
“We’ve played golf since we were young,” Rios-Ceballos said. “We’ve always thought of coming to America to find a better path to go to golf and to get an education as well.”
Perhaps one of the biggest adjustments for Rios-Ceballos has been schoolwork and the weather.
“School is tougher here. It’s very relaxed at home. You just have to pass with a 50 percent. Here especially being an athlete you need a C grade,” Rios-Ceballos said.
Weather-wise, the coldest it gets in Australia is about 40 degrees.
“Here, winter gets really cold so we have to buy a lot of clothes to warm up,” Rios-Ceballos said.
Rios-Ceballos plans to stay in the United States after graduating from HutchCC. He would like to continue playing golf at another college.
Besides going out of Hutchinson for tournaments and volleyball games, Wienkaemper has not gotten the chance to explore much of Kansas or the United States.
Aside from visiting states like Texas and Iowa for golf tournaments, Rios-Ceballos has explored a bit more of the United States.
“I’ve been to Manhattan and Missouri. We have a teammate from Missouri and we went to his house. I’ve been around to see what it’s like and it’s more country here I feel like,” Rios-Ceballos said.
All in all, both student athletes feel as though they fit in well. Gracious for the opportunities that have come and the ones that await, they have captured experiences that will stick with them forever.
“I will always remember making it to Nationals. It means we were one of the best sixteen teams in JUCO colleges,” Wienkaemper said.
