Sophomore Graham Knapp walks off the plane after an hour long flight to London, England. Immediately stepping off the plane, he hears a language not heard in awhile after living in Germany for the past few months: English. He could now add one more city to his list of places traveled.
For eight months, Knapp lived in Ramstein, Germany because of his father’s military-based job. He returned to Texas on compassionate reassignment, which allows military members to move closer to sick family members as long as a base resides nearby, in order for his family to take care of his ill grandmother. Mansfield happened to be the closest city both to where his father worked and where his grandmother lived.
“My grandmother and I are definitely close,” Graham said. “I have a lot of good memories with her, but I haven’t been able to be with her a ton since we move around so much.”
Although born in Texas, Knapp moved over a total of 15 times. Some of his favorite places to travel, both recreationally and in his frequent moves, include New York City, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Austin, all the Hawaiian Islands, San Francisco, London, Austria, Paris, and Venice.
“While it’s cool to get to see the world’s beautiful cities and monuments, at the same time it has literally ruined my life time and time again,” Knapp said. “Every time I make a friend, I’m afraid, because I always feel like I’ll never end up seeing them again.”
While in Germany, Knapp noticed many differences between Europe and America. Most of the buildings and villages, for example, were built in the 1200’s. While football and basketball take the stage in America, in Germany soccer takes the main stage. And compared to Texan weather, and even the mildest of German winters seem colder.
“The winter while I was there was one of the mildest for Germany in years, and I still felt cold,” Knapp said. “And the cities and villages are much prettier there in my opinion, they have a more cozy feel to them. The views are beautiful here, but I can’t go on walks anymore- It’s too hot.”
Knapp and his family planned to stay in Germany for longer than eight months, and during his time there, he learned German fluently. He now takes the course German II to continue studying the language.
“People have been generally accepting at this school,” Knapp said. “School was academically easier in Germany, but the teachers were much stricter. I prefer it here.”
Knapp lived in Mansfield for two years, so both he and his family know the area well.
“I love how more kids here respect their elders and say ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘yes sir’ than in other places,” Knapp said. “That’s one Texas thing that I love. The kids here in Mansfield, however, can be pretty crazy and annoying, more so than anywhere else I’ve been, but that’s probably because the only other place I’ve attended high school is in a strict military school in Germany.”
He finds difficulty in keeping friends while he travels, however, he makes an effort to keep in touch with old friends and make new ones while he can. He spends as much time as possible with them. While in Germany, he and his friend Dasha Pontiff took walks together every weekend and saw each other often during the school day.
“We talk about him a lot still,” Pontiff said. “ but I don’t think I can visit him till next summer. I do miss Graham. I wish he was here, but I like how we get to Skype. It makes it easier for us to communicate.”
Since he constantly moves and leaves behind his friends, Knapp would like to be able to stay in one place without non-recreational travel when he grows up.
“It’s hard to keep friends with all the traveling,” Knapp said. “You have to get out of your comfort zone. Making new friends is tough, but you’ve gotta get out there as soon as you get there.”
