WINTER PARK, Fla. (December 3, 2021) – Early this year, 23 year-old
Janosch Barho went about his day with zero clue his life was about to change. While on the train home from Munich, Germany, Barho received an email from Rollins College with an athletic scholarship to compete with the Tars' men's soccer team.
As the last member of his family to visit the United States, Barho packed his bags and left his hometown in Rendsburg, Germany, to spend the next two years completing his Master's in Human Resources and continuing his soccer career.
Barho began playing soccer when he was four years old and, as most kids do, dreamed of becoming a professional player. His favorite part about the game is its unpredictability. Barho says that high-scoring sports, such as basketball or volleyball, make it "more difficult for the underdog to win a game," but soccer's unpredictability gives every team a fair chance. Despite their ranking, the sports' low scores, fluke goals, and tied matches offer a level playing field for all teams.
Shortly after landing in Florida, and being escorted to Winter Park by teammates
Cole Cecconi and
Alex Holt, Barho participated in his first match with Rollins. The preseason match against Stetson caught him off guard and he felt he was "thrown into the cold water" with little notice when he was subbed on in the first half. His next appearance against Wingate University in North Carolina marked his first time experiencing the National Anthem as a starter. Barho said he "smiled like a child" and his body "filled with goosebumps" because he could not believe he was playing soccer in the United States.
The National Anthem being played was not the only piece of culture shock for Barho. Regardless of the warnings he received prior, Barho also couldn't believe how many people drove to campus. "Florida is flat. There's nothing," said Barho. In Germany, many households use bicycles as the predominant transportation, causing Barho to wonder why students drove to campus when they lived a short distance away.
Apart from expecting the lack of Americans who use bikes for transportation, Barho was unprepared when he first walked into a Walmart. Stunned by the size and variety of products in it, he compared it to a German IKEA, stating he "needed a map to navigate through it."
He may not easily navigate through a Walmart, but standing the tallest on his team at 6'7", the defender said he looks up to "literally no one." In all seriousness, he's very thankful for his teammates who have made his transition and time in Orlando easy and enjoyable, keeping his mind off missing home. Barho has not felt homesick yet, but misses one important thing, his mom's homemade lasagna.
There is nothing like mom's cooking, but for now, he is blessed to experience the quality education, multicultural environments, and abundance of opportunities that the U.S. has to offer. Barho has loved every minute of living in the U.S. and has had no problem adapting to the American way of life, except for understanding the reasons why everyone drives to campus. He hopes he gets the chance to travel to other states and create a lifetime of connections before his time at Rollins is over.
