It’s 2,104 kilometers, 1,307.36 miles, from the city of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, to Allen, Texas. That’s how far senior Nadia Pinter traveled in the summer of 2012, when she and her mother moved down to Texas.

“My stepdad is originally American,” Pinter said. “When my mom met him, he lived in Texas. We moved to Allen because they heard it was an exemplary school. I miss Canada a lot, but there have been people here that have helped me through it, like my English teacher from last year.”

Being from another country is just one fact about Pinter. Besides English, she also speaks semi-fluent French, is learning Spanish in school and is picking up other languages in the meantime.

“In Canada, French starts at grade three,” Pinter said. “I guess I’ve always had a knack for [languages] because my dad [has] spoken Hungarian to me all his life. I’m not very good at it, but I can get by. My entire family is immigrants, so they all speak different languages.”

Pinter’s family history is broader and more extensive than most. Her grandparents are British, her mom was born in Canada, and her father is Yugoslavian.

“My dad was born in Yugoslavia,” Pinter said. “Then he lived in Germany for 10 years, going to Hungary every summer to visit family, and then he moved to Canada, and that’s where [my parents] met.”

Pinter has an extensive list of places she has been, such as Austria, Hungary and Germany, be it to visit family, to go back home to Canada or just to travel.

“I’ve been to Germany, mainly to visit where my dad used to live, and to Romania,” Pinter said. “I was supposed to go to France this summer with my mom, but I don’t think I’ll have time.”

After the school year, Pinter said she is planning to be a nanny out of the country, visit her aunt and hopefully pick up some more languages.

“This summer I’m going to Belgium to be an au pair, which is the French word for nanny,” Pinter said, “I’m going to stay in the French part and nanny for a little boy. Then I’m going to live with my aunt and help her out, and hopefully learn a little bit of Dutch and Flemish.”

Canada will always be her home, however Pinter embraces her heritage and her background, despite the cultural barriers between Texas and Canada.

“I love being from Canada,” Pinter said, ”but it’s a lot different from here. I’ve always been interested in my genetic background and learning new languages that my parents speak, helps me feel closer and more connected to my roots, which I think is important.”