Alumni News
Cassandra Winkelman ’21 writes: This fall, I will begin my Ph.D. in German Studies with a Second Language Acquisition component at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I am interested in East German literature, specifically that of Christa Wolf, and the relationship between language and society. I hope to pursue my research in this field for the next few years! I worked as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at Lessing Gymnasium in Döbeln, Germany for the 2021-2022 academic year. I lived in a Wohngemeinschaft in a town near my school called Riesa with 4 German roommates and often cook with them!
Elizabeth Grun ’16 writes: After I graduated I spent a year in Germany doing the Fulbright teaching grant. I stayed a second year in the same city and worked as an English teacher in a private elementary school. After coming back to the U.S. I went to Temple Law School, and Professor Koch actually wrote a recommendation letter for me. I just graduated this May and started my new job working at the Nassau County Legal Aid Society as a public defender. I just passed the bar exam and am waiting to hear if I have been accepted to the bar. I’ve done a pretty good job keeping up my German. I had a great group of roommates while I was living there and during the pandemic, we video chatted every week.
Camille Ross ’20 writes: I am currently working as a research technician at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. There, I am building computer models of zooplankton distributions in the Gulf of Maine. This study is part of a larger effort to improve NOAA’s right whale management program. The data produced in this study will be used to better NOAA’s right whale models, which are used to make management decisions for this highly endangered species. This job is for one year, and I am thinking of taking another year off and then going to graduate school. I am going to start looking into oceanography and ecological modeling Ph.D. programs, so I can continue doing some of the work I am doing now. I am really enjoying it. It is very good to hear that things are going well at Colby. I am so glad that you are able to have as normal a semester as possible at this point. I miss the German Program.
Emilie Ginn ’20 writes: Since the start date of my Peace Corps program has been delayed until September of 2021, I am in the process of figuring out how to spend my next 11 months! I am currently living and working on a vineyard in northern California. I am learning a ton about the process of making natural wine using organic grapes! I am also learning about wildfires, air quality, smoke, and how all of those things impact the crops grown in the area. Overall, it has been a great experience here so far, and I have met a lot of really wonderful people. I usually spend my weekends exploring the mountains, in areas where there aren’t any fires. As I am nearing the end of harvest season on the vineyard, I am in the process of applying for short-term jobs and fellowships that will allow me to use my newfound time in a meaningful way. While California certainly is beautiful, I do miss Maine in the fall!
Rebecca Berube ’20
I’m currently working out at a food bank in Washington state as an AmeriCorps Nutrition Educator. My main responsibility is helping to plan and teach nutrition and cooking classes for clients of the food bank, ranging from preschool classes to adult education. I also get to plug into different areas of the food bank from harvesting vegetables on the farm to distributing food boxes at drive-thru distributions. It’s been awesome to get outside to hike and run and explore the Pacific Northwest, but I definitely miss seeing the changing fall leaves on Miller lawn (and my favorite German professors of course).
Miranda Mahoney ’20
I’m in Montana! And we currently have 4-5 inches of snow! I’m having such a good time… I’m based in Billings but working about 40 minutes away on the Crow Reservation in a town called Pryor. If we’re talking official titles, I’m a volunteer with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest working as a reading and math clinician at the St. Charles Mission school. I was placed into a house with 3 awesome people who I’m becoming really good friends with! Work has been pretty different this year so far because of Covid. The kids aren’t coming back to school until at least 11/9 but at the moment it’s kind of seeming like they won’t be back to in-person classes until January because of how bad Covid’s getting in Montana in general but especially on the reservation… Such a bummer, but I’m glad that they’re taking safety so seriously! I’ve been doing a lot of small jobs around the school (mostly helping teachers out with using google classroom) but have also been working on a Dr. Seuss mural in the library! Recently I was trained to do reading assessments to ascertain kid’s reading levels and I’ve been driving around the reservation and doing testing outside of their houses, which has been *amazing* because the kids are so sweet and I feel like I’m finally doing what I signed up to do! Outside of work, I’ve been doing a lot of phone banking for Montana Democrats and camping/hiking with my housemates! So far we’ve been all over Yellowstone and to a couple of local Montana mountain ranges!
Joe Yauch ’19 writes: After skiing, eating, and teaching my way through the Alps in the Austrian town of Gmunden for a year on a Fulbright Grant, I’ve found my way to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I just started a graduate program in history at Brandeis University! It’s great to be back in the swing of things academically, and I have a huge leg up in my Philosophy of History seminar because of all the Kant, Arendt, and Hegel readings that Professors Bradley, Ellis, and Koch assigned when I was at Colby! I still find time to get outside and watch my favorite German Netflix series (How to Sell Drugs Online) every night to keep my Deutsch sharp. I miss everyone on Mayflower Hill and on the 4th Floor of Lovejoy so much and can’t wait to reconnect more in the future!
Kylie Walters ’18 writes: After graduation, I lived in San Francisco for a bit, but I am now doing an MPhil in Film and Screen Studies at the University of Cambridge. Last week, for better or worse, involved the return of Immanuel Kant to my life via the Critique of the Aesthetic Power of Judgment. When not trying to digest theory, I am enjoying watching Fall set in and becoming a better cook.
Chris Hale ’18 writes: I currently live in Boston and work for a management consulting firm as a project manager. My German speaking capabilities have recently been very useful in my work. I’m currently in the process of interviewing German physicians to help design product launch scenarios for my client’s new medical device, which they plan to bring to the German market over the next few years. It’s been really rewarding being able to apply language skills developed at Colby to real business use cases.
William Qualey ’16 writes: I’m currently living in Vienna on my second year of the “Austria Fulbright” (which is technically called “United States Teaching Assistant Program of the Austrian Ministry of Education, coordinated by Fulbright”). So last year I was at two Gymnasien in Eisenstadt and this year I’m at two Gymnasien in Vienna’s 18th district. I’m really enjoying the chance to live abroad and I actually love teaching a lot more than I thought I would, which has confirmed for me that I maybe want to become a professor later on. I’m not sure what my plans are for next year, but eventually, I’d like to return to the U.S. for grad school.
Carter Stevens ’13 completed law school at American University in D.C. with a dual J.D./M.A. International Relations program.
Ramsey Meigs ’11 received his MBA from Duke University
Melanie Ungar ’08 received her Ph.D. in Germanic Languages and Literature from UNC/Duke. Congratulations!
Karat Witherill ’15 apparently had the time of her life as a Fulbright ETA in Germany. Her blog ‘From Maine to the Main’ offers some insights into the life of a Colby Fulbrighter in Germany (and beyond)!
https://homesweethassfurt.wordpress.com/
Justin Mohler ’09 continues to make headlines as a graduate student in German at the University of Washington! DHSI participant in Vancouver, interviewer, Max Kade Fellow and conference organizer…
https://germanics.washington.edu/people/justin-mohler
Clifford Katz ’11 writes about his upcoming move to the West Coast: … I’m moving out to Los Angeles in July to commence a dual MBA-Master of Urban Planning program at the University of Southern California, the very same university that suspended its undergraduate German program in 2009, though apparently has revived it…you might appreciate that one of my professors is from Hannover. His wife is Viennese…
Elizabeth Schneider ’12 is finishing up her second year as a Fulbright ETA in beautiful Vienna! Congratulations!
Susannah Hufstader ’12 returned to campus this summer before moving on to graduate school in history at the University of Chicago in the fall.
James Violette ’11 just began his graduate studies in English and History at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, after two years as Fulbright ETA in Austria. Rumor has it that he is busy planning someone’s wedding.
Suzanne Swartz ’07 visited Colby in March for a presentation to students thinking about graduate school:…I majored in German Studies and History and was an English Language Assistant in Austria the year after I graduated. Please feel free to pass my contact information on to students; I’m happy to speak with anyone thinking about study abroad, language assistantships, and ways to continue with German after they graduate.