2022 – German Majors
My name is Phoebe Jenkins and I am a sophomore German major at Montclair State University. In high school, I took German because it was a fun way to break up the usual courses, such as math or science. I had never considered it for a major and did not even know it was an option. I came to MSU with no idea of what major to choose, and, frankly, I was lost. During my freshman year, I decided to take German again and realized how much I still loved it! I was then asked if I had ever considered it as my major. I was a bit hesitant at first, but I did not have many other ideas. At that point, I figured “why not?” and started the process of officially declaring as a German major. And honestly, I do not think I could have made a better decision. From just my classes to participating in the SPARK Program, everything has been an exciting and challenging experience and I am looking forward to everything to come.
My name is Ray Kleinschmidt, and I’m a senior at Montclair State University. I am majoring in Filmmaking and German, and minoring in Japanese. I am also the President of the German Club. Ever since my first German class in high school, I’ve had a passion for language-learning. MSU is unique in that it has a large number of robust foreign-language programs. I was able to take a placement test and seamlessly continue my German education in addition to starting to study Japanese.
Because MSU has a partnership with the University of Graz, I’ve also been able to practice my German with a number of international students from Germany and Austria. When you are able to speak to someone in their native language, you form an instant connection. I now have friends in Germany and Austria who can’t wait to show me around their cities. Whether you’ve studied it in the past or just want to pick up a new language, I can’t recommend the German Program here highly enough.
My name is Alli Kodila and I am a dual German and linguistics major. I am lucky enough to be spending my Junior year studying abroad in Austria at the University of Graz. I started learning German in 8th grade and it was the first foreign language to click for me. After that, I began to fall in love with learning the language. After a few years of learning I realized just how much German shared with other Germanic languages—which piqued my interest. From that time on, I have absolutely loved learning about other languages and other linguistic aspects.
My name is Ivana Parra. I am a language, business, and culture with a concentration in German. I have studied German for three semesters now. My interest in German came from my curiosity in other cultures. Also, I found the language a bit challenging for me and I always like a good challenge, I find it rewarding when I accomplish that challenge. Also, learning a third language would be very beneficial along with the business part of the major and since I want to be a diplomat it would be a huge advantage to know a third language . I hope to have a great understanding of the German language so I can study Heidelberg University.
Hello, my name is John Rojas, and I’m a double majoring in Political Science BA/MA with German, while also studying Public Administration as a minor. I first started learning the language around my second year of High School, even though it was not offered I still found it an interesting as well as a great language to learn. Taking the time to study German properly in Montclair, I completely begin to understand its complexities that I might say make German unique from other Germanic languages like English and different from Romance languages like Spanish, both of them being my native languages. I look forward to studying abroad in Austria in the fall semester as well as hoping that I can also study abroad in Germany in the near future.
Hi, my name is Avelisse Guzman and I am majoring in German. I am from a small town in Pennsylvania. I love to watch movies and anime. I can also say I have found my passion in life, originally majoring in S.T.E.M. I took German in order to fulfill my language requirement and just fell in love with it. I was so invested in learning German that I changed my major with an entirely new goal: Learn German! Learn the grammar, idioms and slang, everything I possibly can! Learning German for me is such a rewarding experience that I can spend hours and hours on grammar exercises and never get bored. I find that it is crucial to have fun when learning something new. I’ve had such amazing experiences having dialogues with my classmates. I also have fun translating German text into English and working on adapting my unique vocabulary into German. After graduating from MSU I aim to become a German instructor so I can share my unbridled enthusiasm for German with as many people as I can. HOPEFULLY that will be after ‘Kaffee und Tratschen’ in a cafe in Germany!
Hi, my name is Ath-Yah Brathwaite, and I am a senior at Montclair State University. In Spring of 2020, I took my first German Class. From there I never looked backed. I began taking German classes every semester because I truly enjoyed the language and met so many wonderful people and professors. Soon, I went from a German Minor to a German Major. Now I am double majoring in Psychology and German! I have gained so much experience and knowledge during my time here and I want to graduate and use my German skills in a professional or educational setting. This August, I plan to participate in the “Virtual Lake Konstanz Summer School 2022”. I am excited to meet new people and learn more German. I want to thank Dr. Herold, Dr. LaFountain, and Dr. Crimmins, for all the kindness, guidance, and support they have given me throughout the years. I am optimistic towards the future and cannot wait to see what new opportunities my German studies will offer.
Hi, my name is Lirena Engelsbel. I am currently writing this while abroad in Graz, Austria. After this semester, I will be entering my senior year. I have a major in German and a minor in International Studies as well as Sports Coaching. My love for German began when I decided to take it my sophomore year of high school. I just love learning languages and German felt like a good one to pick up and know. I think it also comes from that in my family, I hear different languages everyday, we are a mix of Dutch and Russian. The German language has helped me a lot here in Graz, I definitely recommend it! I am also in German Club and have been since my freshman year at Montclair. Junior year, I became secretary of German Club and have also been involved with multiple other German events on campus. In the future, I hope to teach German to others and to be able to connect my love of German and bring it over to their lives, hopefully.
Hello! My name is Emily Brennan, and I am a senior double-majoring in German and Linguistics. I began learning German in high school, and I grew to love learning about the German language and culture, so I decided to learn more at university. I love that I am able to use my knowledge about German and apply it to my other major, linguistics, so that I can better participate in conversations about language and culture, second language learning, and bilingualism. Knowing another language has helped me better understand how much we rely on communication every day, and it has inspired me to pursue speech-language pathology when I go to graduate school.
At Montclair State, I work as a peer tutor in German and linguistics with the Center for Academic Success and Tutoring. It is especially rewarding to work with fellow students and teach them all the tricks I know from when I first started learning German. Being a member of the Honors Program, I have gotten the chance to work on interdisciplinary projects related to my fields of study. I am also proud to be a Presidential Scholar and recipient of the Conrad Schmitt Scholarship.
My name is Anya Simpson and I am an upcoming sophomore at Montclair. My major is Business, Language, and Culture with a concentration in German. I have always been interested in learning languages since I was young. I attended a Chinese Language School every Sunday for 13 years, which really sparked my interest in learning about different cultures and languages. I started studying German in 7th grade and continued throughout High School, and I’m hoping to study in Germany next summer.
Since attending Montclair, I have grown confidence in my speaking abilities and have been able to form a lot of great relationships within the German department. In the spring I was a part of the Spark program, where we teach German to the nearby elementary school children which was a really rewarding experience. I have also joined the German Honor Society and the German club. This program has been such an encouraging and welcoming environment that has helped me flourish as a student in my language learning and I am looking forward to continuing learning new languages.