The Light - An Alumni Publication Summer 2015 | Page 8

NEW & NOTEWORTHY
IN MEMORY OF ALEXANDER VOIGT
Earlier this month, family and friends of
international exchange student Alexander Voigt
gathered together in St. Cloud, Minnesota
for a bench dedication celebrating the life of
a young man whose tragic loss has been felt
across the entire YFU community. A true global
citizen, Alex was a 2014-2015 exchange student
from Germany who attended Technical High
School in St. Cloud, where he made his mark
as a member of both the soccer and track
teams and was known for his compassionate,
charismatic and adventurous spirit.
As part of the bench dedication, Alex’s
mom read the last and only letter he wrote her
while on exchange. In this letter, Alex stated his
excitement about his younger sister following
in both his own footsteps, and those of his
parents, in becoming a YFU student. “I am thrilled
that Kira has applied [for an exchange year]
with YFU and am positive that she’s going to be
accepted. We are a complete YFU family now,
how great is this?” Yes, Alex’s parents are both

YFU alumni and his sister will be a 2015-2016 student
in Virginia. In his letter, Alex went on to write of all the
ways his year abroad helped him grow. We hope you
will take a moment to watch a video from Alex’s
dedication and reflect on your own YFU experience.

Left to right: Michael Hill (YFU President & CEO), Jutta Voigt (Alex’s
mother), Yorck Jetter (Alex’s father) and Dave Kleis (Mayor of St. Cloud
& Alex’s host father) sitting on the bench dedicated to Alex’s memory.

study
abroad with

YFU

When you explore the path less taken and see the world up close you become a catalyst for positive
global change. Visit y