Way to Go! Constanza Arevalo, East Setauket

Constanza Arevalo, a sophomore at Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, was one of 39 teens nationwide whose foreign language expertise won her an all-expenses-paid trip this summer to Germany.

Arevalo earned a score of 91 on the National German Exam administered this winter by the American Association of Teachers of German.

She then submitted an essay in German and was interviewed by association officials.

"I was extremely surprised and ecstatic," Arevalo, 16, said of being selected. "I'm just really into learning about different cultures and seeing how they are different from ours."

During the three-week visit, Arevalo will live with a host family and attend classes - in English and German - with the other American student winners.

Arevalo said she has studied German since eighth grade and picked it because her mother was a German teacher in Chile, where Arevalo grew up.

"This trip will give her the opportunity to learn and live in the culture 24/7," said her German teacher, Michele Aweh. "There is only so much we can teach in a 40-minute class."

Arevalo is a member of her school's German Club and school newspaper. She is also in the church choir at St. Philip and James Parish in St. James.