by Susan Griffith

Carrie Schenkel will have plenty of experience next year, practicing her German and learning more about the German political system.

Carrie Schenkel

The graduating senior recently became a scholar in the Fulbright Teaching Assistantship Program and will use her German language skills to teach English 12 hours a week in a high school in Koblenz, Germany.

"The city is in the southwestern part of Germany. It's supposedly one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Germany. It has lots of castles," Schenkel said.

The Fulbright program encourages its scholars to travel, and part of the stipend students receive during their year abroad helps defray travel costs.

Schenkel also has plans to visit a former German exchange student who stayed with her family in Zanesville, Ohio, years ago and over the years has remained in contact with the family. While in Germany, Schenkel's parents and sister also hope to have a reunion with their exchange student.

The experience of living with the exchange student influenced her to study German for four years in high school and another four years at CWRU, Schenkel said.

She also has mapped out an itinerary that includes trips to the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania where she intends to see countries that she heard much about during an internship through the Washington Center Program in Washington, D.C. As an intern, she was a desk officer at the U.S. Department of State for a semester and worked in the Baltic country sector.

While in class at CWRU, Scenkel was busy fulfilling requirements for her bachelor's degree in her majors of German, political science and international studies.

After her stay in Germany, Schenkel plans to return to the United States and attend graduate school at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. She has defrayed her admission for a year to take advantage of the Fulbright opportunity.

As part of the Johns Hopkins graduate program, she will have to demonstrate a proficiency of a language.

"When I return, I will have a better understanding of Germany and the European Union. This will definitely be helpful in my program," Schenkel said.

She said she eventually wants to work for the U.S. Department of State.

Her career goals were firmed up on September 11, 2001. She was working at the State Department when terrorists flew a plane into the Pentagon. She had been in Washington for only a week and was getting her security clearances to use the computer system when the fire alarms sounded and the building was evacuated. In the aftermath, she served on a counter terrorism task force and saw how the United States government pulled together in times of crisis.

While at CWRU, she has earned a number of awards including Who's Who Among Students at American Colleges and Universities, the Peter Witt Fellowship for service in the Cleveland community; the CWRU Provost's Scholarship, the Shinnick Foundation Scholarship, the Robert C. Byrd Scholarship, dean's high honors and CWRU Greek Life All-Star for community service.

She also was active and served as president of the sorority Sigma Psi on campus. She has competed in ballroom dance competitions in the Midwest and won awards for the tango, waltz, foxtrot, cha-cha and rhumba.

Schenkel has worked with the Office of Student Community Service and participated in the AmeriCorps program for two years. Her AmeriCorps work with the Cleveland Health Museum and in a proficiency tutoring program at Shaw High School in East Cleveland through the Gettin' on the Six program earned her the Peter Witt Fellowship for service.

Since her first year on campus, Schenkel has been giving guided tours for prospective students and their parents when they visit campus and talks with them about CWRU. Since last summer, she has been an assistant in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and has developed a reference manual for entering data for the office.

 

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