From the Hilltop to the World
This fund, as its name suggests, was created by Heike Armbrust and Dr. Laura McGee. Heike Armbrust is a German educator at the Anne-Frank-Gymnasium in Werne, Germany. Besides teaching English and Religion full-time she runs annual student exchanges with three high schools in Bowling Green with support of the German American Partnership Program (GAPP). Since 2012 she has been working as the Facilitator of International Student Teacher Placement in collaboration with WKU.
Her motivation for establishing this scholarship fund is her wish to support WKU students who are interested in studying abroad to gain insight into a different culture and work world. This wish has always run deep in her soul for when she was a student herself–without the means to afford a trip abroad–she was finally able to spend some time in the USA because her former American lecturer invited her to come and stay with her family for free. Having learned through that how love and understanding make the world a lot smaller and a better place to be, she wants to see WKU students step out into the world and explore, embrace and empower.
Dr. Laura McGee is Head of the Department of Modern Languages and Professor of German at WKU. Her enthusiasm for building new programs and improving the existing ones and her aim to lead students to the highest proficiency level possible go hand in hand with her unlimited love for teaching the German language.
This desire also generates her motivation to establish this scholarship fund. Her international experience in multiple countries at very young age, her life inside the German culture as a high school exchange student, her time as a Fulbright Scholar, and her frequent visits to Germany for research since then have become a valuable treasure for her. She loves sharing this treasure and wishes for the students at WKU to look far beyond the horizon of their own country as they experience personal and professional development through study abroad.
Big Red Needs to Go Abroad
The purpose of the fund is to continue the existing work of Heike Armbrust and Laura McGee in the area of German-American intercultural understanding by providing scholarship funds to students and support monies for international activities abroad and at WKU.
Students who went abroad and acted as cultural explorers in various fields soon noticed that the intercultural experience has a major impact on their life in the most positive sense. This is why the funded activities need to involve a deep engagement with the German culture and/or language.
To offer this opportunity to an increasing number of WKU students in the future, the fund will be grown through an active campaign by the initial donors in collaboration with the College Heights Foundation. The campaign is designed to create a spirit of giving back among WKU alumni, faculty, and organizations touched by the intercultural work of Armbrust and McGee in Germany and the United States.
Armbrust/McGee Culture & Work Experience Scholarship Recipients
Recipient Erik Geiman
As a double major in German and Architectural Science, Erik Geiman wanted very much to find a study abroad experience during which he could combine both his interests. After researching his options extensively, Erik chose the IES Program Berlin, where he immersed himself in both disciplines for six weeks in summer 2017. One of the best things about this program was “speaking the language,” Erik said. “From the moment I landed in Berlin, I was using my German to get around, to connect to people, and to learn more about how they think and what they care about. I spoke only German with my host family, and took part in all aspects of German family life, from helping to cook meals to assembling IKEA furniture.” Erik’s architecture course helped him get acquainted with the amazing range of historical and modern buildings in Berlin. A high point? It is hard to say. Erik loved the Reichstag with its glass dome, and was impressed by James Simon Park (between Hackescher Markt and the Spree River) and its surrounding architecture. “I’m already thinking about how to get back to Germany. I hope to work in an architectural firm there. I want to learn more about design and sustainability so that I can bring that knowledge back to the United States.”
Recipient Crystal Belcher
Crystal Belcher, from Radcliff, Kentucky is the first recipient of this scholarship. A double major in German and Criminology, Crystal studied abroad in summer 2016 through the ISEP Program at the Phillips-Universität Marburg in Marburg, Germany. In applying for the scholarship and selecting this particular program, Crystal explained her goals: “My primary intentions for studying abroad in Germany are to develop my German language skills at the C1 proficiency level and give back to my heritage. Germany is rich with history, which I feel greatly a part of and want to be part of in the future. I have confidence that I can excel well in the ISEP program and answer my personal challenges: Can I live in Germany on my own? Can I pursue a career there?”