While her classmates are still tucked away in their warm comforters, sophomore Kelsey Fennell trudges through the Austrian winter snow to get to her first period class.

Kelsey left to study abroad in Austria four weeks ago, and will be back mid July. She is studying at a Roman Catholic school called Stiftsgymnasium Wilhering, which is about 90 km from Vienna.

Kelsey decided to study abroad because she grew up with German as her first language, and as Piedmont does not offer German, it was difficult for her to gain exposure to the language, said her mother Leslie Fennell.

Kelsey was inspired to travel to Austria by her mother’s and sports director Megan Hernandez’s experiences abroad.

“My mom studied abroad in college, and so I have always thought of it being an option, and it sounded really fun,” Kelsey said. “I’ve always liked traveling and I really wanted to learn a new culture.”

Kelsey said she chose to leave this year because it seemed easiest, as junior year would be filled with SATs and college prep and she wants to spend her senior year in Piedmont.

“I chose Austria because I have already been here before, I already [kind of] speak German, and I have many family friends that I hope will be able to meet up with,” she said. “Plus the food is amazing.”

Leslie hopes that Kelsey will be able to gain an appreciation for a wider variety of food and the self-confidence to do anything she wants to do while she is abroad.

“From taking the bus or asking for something in German if she doesn’t know the word – she can tackle it and do it successfully,” Leslie said.

Leslie said the family dynamic is very different now that Kelsey is away. With her older sister Marina in college, Kelsey was the only daughter left living at home.

“There’s a lot less food, less laundry, more quiet, just different. There’s no young energy in the house anymore,” Leslie said.

Despite the quiet house, Leslie hopes that her being away will make their bond stronger.

“She’ll appreciate us more and we’ll appreciate her more,” she said.

Kelsey uses Whatsapp, a free text chatting app for talking to people in foreign countries, as well as Facebook messaging, to stay in touch with her family and friends.

Sophomore Katie Yu said even though they chat sometimes, her being away still affects their friendship.

“I miss her a lot since we used to go shopping on the weekends and I don’t get to message or snapchat her often. I miss walking with her to classes and talking to her about stuff,” Yu said.

However, Yu hopes that one of them can visit the other.

Though Kelsey misses people at home, she is also enjoying her time in Austria.

“My favorite thing about being here is that I will create life-long connections with all of the people that I will meet here,” she said. “My least favorite thing is that I will have to leave in 6 months.”