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Charles in Charge
A Detroit native goes to Germany via DaimlerChrysler

by Emily Everett

Charles Marzette Jr. (right) and Matthias Cotter each experienced life in the other's country.

Charles Marzette Jr. has been interested in car design since he was "about this high," says his dad, Charles Sr., holding out an arm about 3 feet off the floor. The elder Marzette, a 25-year DaimlerChrysler employee who works as a hilo driver, says they aren't quite sure when Charles Jr. got car fever, but they are sure he's got it now.

At 17, Charles Jr. has developed into an accomplished artist and a budding designer with automotive dreams. Starting this fall, he's taking classes at Detroit's highly regarded Center for Creative Studies.

The Detroiter's dreams were also boosted by the exchange programs that sent him to Australia and New Zealand in 1997, and to Germany for three weeks in 1999. The first trip was with the People to People Student Ambassador program, which Charles Sr. read about in a company publication at Sterling Heights Assembly. His 14-year-old son Chandon went to Europe on the Student Ambassador program this summer.

On Charles Jr.'s People to People Student Ambassador trip, he lived with local residents for a couple of days but mostly traveled around, staying in hotels. His second trip, the DaimlerChrysler Youth Beyond Borders program, was vastly different. The program is sponsored by DaimlerChrysler to foster closer relationships between the company's North American and German workers and their families. Children of employees live for three weeks with host families overseas. Charles lived with the Cotters, a Stuttgart family, in the summer of 1999; last summer the Marzettes hosted 16-year-old Matthias Cotter, whose parents, Stefan and Slava, work at DaimlerChrysler's Stuttgart assembly plant.

Charles Jr.'s stint in Stuttgart included a tour of the assembly plant and the Mercedes automotive design facility. But the plant tour was no match for the design visit, the chance of a lifetime for a future designer. "They showed us the car they were working on and how they modeled it," Charles Jr. recalls. "They even let us play around with the clay models. They had a life-size clay model that a lot of people thought was a real car. You could even sit in it," he says.

Charles Jr. expects to put what he learned to good use at the Center for Creative Studies this fall. He spent his summer focused on his art, particularly the sculpting he learned just last year.

Beyond the automotive education, the Youth Beyond Borders program gave both Charles Jr. and his German counterpart, Matthias, an opportunity to broaden their horizons. At the Cotters' house, Stefan and Slava Cotter speak only German so Charles needed Matthias around to interpret. Away from the house, however, the language barrier was rarely a problem.

Another observation: Germans walk long distances, Charles Jr. says, even when they're just getting from their car to the curb. "If you're going to the mall, the parking lot isn't at the mall, it's just somewhere in the area."

Like Charles, Matthias noted cultural differences between the two countries. "Learning something about the way of living far away from home, and about society and cultural life in the U.S." is what Matthias considers one of the most important elements of the exchange program. The other, he notes, true to his teenage years: "Having fun!"

"At 17, Charles Jr. has developed into an accomplished artist and a budding designer with automotive dreams."