I chose to study German for two reasons:
1. My mother’s side of the family is German, which instilled in me a deep appreciation for the culture and language
2. When I was 16, I moved to Berlin, Germany, and spent one year in a Swiss gymnasium (college prep school) preparing to sit the Abitur. I didn’t speak German upon arriving - with the exception of being able to order off a menu and ask for directions - but became fluent within 8 months.
My time studying German at CMC was surprisingly practical for three reasons:
German opened up doors for me to better communicate with 155 million other people, engage with millions of new archival documents, and consume difficult to translate source material
I advanced my ability to recognize and navigate intercultural considerations, such as different attitudes around small talk and directness
Being the most spoken language in the EU (apart from English), knowing German has given me an edge in scientific, economic, and political arenas
Study Abroad in Vienna, Austria
I spent one semester in Vienna at the Institute for the International Education of Students
Among top 1% of German speakers in my program
GPA: 3.94
Courses:
The Cultural Heritage of Austria
German Language in Context
Arbeitswelt im Wandel (Changing worlds of work)
Deutschland in Schwarz und Weiß (Germany Black and White)
German Syntax for Translation
Rich, Pretty, Orderly - Swiss?
Culture and Society of Weimar & Nazi Germany
Thesis - Eric Voegelin: Nazism and Eric Voegelin’s Politische Religionen: An Approach to Exploring Nazism’s Roots in Modern Thought
Learned Competencies:
Intercultural dialogue
Multilingual writing
Sociological considerations
Macroeconomic trends
Qualitative research methods
Project management
Major GPA: 4.0