German Studies Program Alumni - Languages, Literatures and International Studies

Majors and minor: History major, German Studies major, Pre-Law minor

I really enjoyed the small, more intimate size of the German department. Because there weren't as many students or faculty, I really felt like I was able to be seen and understood, and wasn't just a face in a crowd. I really enjoyed being able to finally enjoy the community and the nature surrounding NMU. It's a gorgeous campus with a lot of very nice people, and I'm glad I was able to surround myself with that kind of atmosphere. 

Major and minor: Fisheries and Wildlife Management major with a Fisheries concentration, German minor

Brady's post-graduation plans were to attend Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, to study limnology. During his time as an LLIS student, he really enjoyed Professor Jon Sherman's willingness to answer his questions, regardless of how goofy they might have seemed (Wie sagt man "Stable Isotope Analysis" auf Deutsch?).

Majors and minor: History major, German Studies major, Spanish minor

I have so many great memories from my German and Spanish classes. I loved discussing Heimatfilme in Great Works in German Literature with Dr. Zimmer, listening to German pop music with Dr. Sherman, and talking about the latest Real Madrid game to anyone who would listen in Noticias with Profe Joy. Some of my favorite books and short stories from my language classes include "Heimat" by Nora Krug, "Der Knochenmann" by Wolf Haas, "La mujer que llegaba a las seis" by Gabriel García Márquez, and "Los gallinazos sin plumas" by Julio Ramón Ribeyro.

Majors: Secondary German and English Education

Jaime VanEnkevort is a native Yooper, hailing from the small town of Bark River, Michigan. She has three great loves in her life: food, nature, and family. A lover of art and culture, Jaime is interested in the German Expressionist movement and also appreciates the work of Egon Schiele and Hundertwasser. One day, she hopes to write poetry as gracefully as Rilke and honestly as Jack Gilbert. She received a Fulbright scholarship to assist in secondary English classrooms in Austria.

Major & minor: Social Studies Secondary Education, German minor

My second language has opened so many doors for me.  Not only did it grant me access to an amazing 2-year Fulbright Scholarship in Austria, the language that I studied at NMU has become my passion and livelihood.  Every day I have the opportunity to encourage a new generation of students to find new connections through the German language and culture.  Funny job-hunt anecdote, when applying across the country for teaching jobs, 9 out of every 10 callbacks for interviews were solely foreign language positions.  Only two school districts called for Social Studies and History. 

Major & minors: English, minors in Biology, Writing, and German

Having German as a second language has greatly benefited my career in that it gave me my foothold in the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) field.  Immediately after graduating from NMU, my plan was to start the MA TESOL degree at Michigan State University.  However, through the encouragement of Carol Strauss Sotiropolous, I applied for a Fulbright Foreign Language Assistant position with the Austrian-American Fulbright Commission.  Through a series of events, a position became available, and I was able to defer my graduate studies enrollment to live and teach in eastern Austria for 10 months.