This summer we sent the following letter to all the alumni of the German program who we could locate who had attended Whitman since the Second World War! Here's what we asked:
Hello from the Whitman College German Department! We hope that you are enjoying the beginning of summer and that the weather wherever you happen to be is as beautiful as it is here in Walla Walla.And here's what you wrote:
This summer we are updating the website for German majors and the German community, which unfortunately hasn't been done for some time. We would love to include some of the current activities of previous students of German as well any interesting bits of information from your life you would be willing to share with us! What have you been up to since you left Whitman? How has your skill or interest in German helped you in your post-Whitman life? Do you have any advice for current students? Do you have any particularly fond memories of the College, the department, or even a class or professor?
Whether you graduated 60 years ago or last year, please let us know what you have been up to - we'd love to hear any and all of your responses!
Marilee Hansen '61
I came to Whitman not knowing what I was going to major in. My older
brother, who had majored in pre-med at Whitman, recommended that I take
German because he really loved the professor, Herr Santler. I had Herr
Santler for German in 1957-1959. He encouraged me to go to Vienna to
study my junior year, which was not at all common in those days, on a
program called Institute of European Studies (IES). At the time there
was a registrar who would not accept credits from schooling abroad but
Herr Santler said if I went, he thought that would change when I
returned. What he was thinking was that she would retire. I went to
Vienna for the 1959-60 school year and it was and remains the best year
of my life. There were 100 college students from all over America in
the program.
When I returned, Whitman still wouldn't accept my credits (the
registrar didn't retire) so I finished my German major at the
University of Washington where they gave me full credit. I understand
that later foreign language majors were required to study abroad so I
feel like a pioneer of sorts. After graduation, I worked for the
airlines for a year and then started teaching after I got married. I
taught German at Issaquah (1963-70) and Snohomish (1970-1978) and then
became a high school administrator.
I finished my career as principal of Bremerton High School where I
joined the Rotary and became chair of the Youth Exchange Committee for
6 years. Just before coming to Bremerton, I married for the second
time. My husband was a man who had been on the IES program in Vienna
but came from North Dakota. In 1960 you didn't fly back and forth
between Washington and North Dakota at will. We had both married and
had families but ended up together 27 years later.
The two of us have hosted 9 foreign exchange students from the Rotary
program, three of whom were from Germany and one from the German
speaking part of Switzerland. We have traveled many times to visit them
and their families just as they and their families have traveled to
visit us. None of them wants to speak German with us anymore - everyone
under 50 in Germany speaks English.
Several of my former students majored in German and several have become
German teachers. I think any language is good to study but I would
probably recommend Spanish, Chinese, or Russian today rather than
German. But I still love the German language.
As you see, my two years studying German under Herr Santler at Whitman
had a big impact on my life. Without it I would have lived a whole
different life!
Nancy Arnold Weinstein '67
Eine tolle Idee! Deutsch habe ich von Professor Santler 1963-64 und von
Professor Toews 1964-65 studiert. Dann habe ich mich entschiedem, mich
dem Studium slawischer Sprachen zu widmen und bin zur Universität
Washington übergangen, wovon ich ein BA Diplom in Russisch 1967, und
Magister in Bibliothekwissenschaft 1971 bekommen habe.
Meine russischen und tschechischen Sprachkenntnisse habe ich im Beruf
wenig benützt, Deutsch aber schon, indem ich von 1978 bis 1985 in
Deutschland gewohnt habe erst als Soldat, danach als Bibliothekarin für
die amerikanishcen Streitkräften in Europa.
Jean Elwood Hamilton '71
I'd forgotten that I was once a German major, before I left school to
be married. I eventually earned a BA in Liberal Studies from California
State University at Hayward, and then an elementary teaching
certificate from Western Washington University here in Bellingham. I
have always enjoyed my background in German. When our choir at First
Presbyterian sang a German cantata one Christmas I was the soloist,
while everyone else complained that they didn't understand it and
couldn't pronounce it.
When our daughter was in German class at Sehome High School she went on
a Summer trip to Munich. We tagged along, of course, and my German got
a good workout as the translator-in-chief for Kris and our son,
although most people gave up and spoke English with us. My shining
moment, however, was as part of Structural Engineer's conference in
Madrid a few years back. The engineer's spouses had our own special
tours of Toledo, El Escorial and other lovely sites. Most of them were
Germans, and the tour guides, of course, were Spanish. Since I know
both languages my services were in high demand. It turns out that when
we say, "It's Greek to me" the Germans say, "It's Spanish to me."
Learning German has been a long tradition in our family. My parents met
each other in a German language class at WSU. Kris and I both studied
it in school. Our daughter Ellen Hamilton Schwede (Whitman '00) married
a German speaking Math major (Karl Schwede, Whitman '99) and our son
Andrew studied German in High School. Although we don't have occasion
to use it a lot, I would say it has enriched all our lives.
Thank you for the work you are doing on the German newsletter and
webpage. It will be interesting to see what friends from my distant
past have done with their language studies.
Ann Brinson '75
Ich wohnte ein Jahr in Muenchen in 1973 und studierte auf der
Universitaet. Es is schon lange her, aber trotzdem erinnere ich mich an
etwas, obwohl ich nur einmal zurueck gegangen bin. Ich hatte zwei
Austauchstudenten im Jahre 2000. Zur Zeit wohne ich in Costa Rica.
It is easier in English to tell you...
It had been a dream of mine after returning from the year in Germany to
be able to live in a warm climate in a beach village and to learn
another language. Somehow my German stuck in my head for many years and
I have used it a bit here. Now I am in the throes of learning Spanish
so the German is moved to the back of my brain and these days I fight
to speak it but I need to since there are people who enter my office
and do not speak Spanish or English. Because I have learned one
language already it may be easier to pick up Spanish. At least I know
how to learn the language and that can vary for many people.
Quick background - got married in 1981, had a daughter (now 20 at CWU)
and moved to CR almost a year ago. Had worked in the mortgage industry
for some years but there is no such animal here so I am a broker for
RE/MAX Coastal Property in a little village of maybe 2000 with many
Germans, Italians, some people from the US, Canada and other countries.
I am really glad I put the effort I did into learning German. Upon my
return from Germany I was told by one of the esteemed professors that I
was one of the most fluent students to return from a year abroad but
also one of the least literate! I had spent that year learning the
language with the idea that the books would still be there after I
returned home. Not sure that philosophy was received well at Whitman.
People are welcome to contact me, the hola.ann @ gmail is the best
address for that.
RE/MAX Coastal Property
Ann E. Brinson
506-656-0547
cell - 506-897-9763
APDO 90 Codigo 5235
Sámara, Guanacaste
Costa Rica
Gretchen Beilstein Ramey '75
I was taking classes from Herr Santler coming up on 35 years ago. He
was one of my very favorite people at Whitman. I have a story to share
about him. When I arrived on campus for the first time, age 16 and a
thousand miles from home, there was a picnic lunch scheduled for the
freshman students to meet their faculty advisors. All around the lawn
in front of Prentiss were groups of students surrounding individual
professors. And there was Herr Santler, all alone. I walked up and
introduced myself, Gretchen Beilstein. He said, "Hmm, Beilstein,
Beilstein -- there was a student here, I think she graduated in perhaps
'44 -- she married a man named Beilstein. Any relation?" Well, of
course it was my parents, and I was enchanted. He then said, "Are you
looking forward to sitting on the ground and eating lunch out of a
paper sack, or may I take you to lunch?" So we went to lunch at a
restaurant downtown and discussed whatever advisors were supposed to
discuss with their advisees.
And yes, I use my German fairly frequently still. In fact, my younger
daughter and I are going to Germany this summer, just to drive around
and improve our language skills. I practice at home mostly by reading
children's books (my favorites are Pu der Baer and Der kleine Lord, a
translation of Little Lord Fauntleroy). In the choirs I sing in, I'm
the person who gets to teach the singers how to pronounce German texts.
Advice for current students? Adjective endings are less vital than you might think.
What else do I do with my life? I accompany two children's choirs, I do
the other half of a court reporter's job (editing transcripts on the
computer), and I teach wood shop to middle school students. What could
be more fun?
Tschuess!
Wendy Sanger McGuire '77
I adored every one of my Professors at Whitman. Stately Herr Santler,
debonair Herr Soden, and Herr Toews, who started every class with a
poetry recitation that could make the hair stand up on the back of your
neck. Frau Wolter gave us the bizarre Durrenmatt, visionary Brecht, and
the modern East German geniuses. I majored in German because I was
fascinated with German culture, and knew that when you studied a
language it was the key that unlocked the door to understanding the
people.
Shortly after graduation in 1977, I joined the Army and was stationed
in the then Federal Republic of Germany. I had traveled to Germany four
times before, including to Munich during the Olympics, and a summer
course at the Goethe Institut. I even traveled to East Berlin and
crossed the border every 24 hours for four days, to visit my father's
old nanny's husband. None of those trips prepared me for living there
for three years as what amounted to an occupying force. I worked on a
Hawk missile site outside of Friedberg (home of Elvis Presley's old
unit) and my battery was located on Schloss Kasern in Butzbach. My
battalion was in Hanau and my group was in Darmstadt. I lived there for
three years and my two daughters were born in Frankfurt.
Many years later I traveled back to Berlin with my parents and my
daughters. We visited the apartment building where my father lived as a
child, and the Kaufhaus des Westen, which had been owned by his
cousins, the Grunfeld family. We had wonderful meals, visited the
beautiful Sans Souci, marveled at the various museums, and went to
three operas so we could experience each Opera House.
After leaving active duty, I remained in the Reserve, and am currently
a colonel in command of a brigade located in Vallejo, CA.
My experience at Whitman meant that I could always find a friend in
beautiful, old leather-bound books filled with old German verse. I will
always be grateful for the love of literature and language conveyed by
the German professors at Whitman.
Bob G. Jacobs '80
Since graduating from Whitman in 1980 with a degree in German, I
obtained an MA in Germanics from the University of Washington. Then, of
course (?), I went to Japan for two years to teach English. My interest
in language continued, but I became less interested in literature and
more interested in how language is acquired, so I pursued a Ph.D. in
Applied Linguistics from UCLA. While there, I focused on neuroanatomy
and completed a neuroanatomy dissertation, followed by a post-doc,
neuroimaging investigation of brain maturation in non-human primates.
I became a faculty member in the Psychology department at Colorado
College (CC) in 1993 and started the Neuroscience major here. It was
when I came to CC that I fully realized the lasting effects of my
liberal arts education at Whitman. I look back fondly on my time in the
German department at Whitman, and have been ever-grateful to the
Whitman professors that supported me in my educational pursuits.
One of my favorite memories at Whitman was an upper division German
class we had with only three students. I rearranged the seminar room,
putting a large table in each corner of the room, and stacked a chair
on top of each table. When Professor Soden came into the room, we were
all sitting on one of the chairs in one of the corners facing each
other. Professor Soden, looked around, said "Okay!" and got up on the
last chair on the table in the remaining corner, and we conducted class
that way for the day.
Since leaving Whitman, in addition to studying German, I have studied
French, Latin, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. But most importantly, I
took up hockey at the age of 36!
Carla Torgerson '81
Anyway, in 1984 I started a rock band with another Whittie named Chris
Eckman (class of '82 or '83) and his two brothers. The band is called The Walkabouts and we're still working 22 years later.
I took Chris all throughout Europe in 1981-82 on a seven month trip and
we vowed to not return to Europe unless we had a band. After touring
America for six years, we finally started working in Europe in 1990
with Subpop Europe which was run by Germans. Subpop USA was, or course,
started here in Seattle. In 1995 Subpop was sold to Warner and we
didn't want to work for Warner Records so Subpop Europe (same German
team that we had already worked with for five years) reverted to their
original German label name called Glitterhouse Records. In essence
we've been working with same German people now for sixteen years.
My German language speaking ability has come in most handy. I've been
able to read contracts, understand subtle miscommunications due to
translations, order food off menus that my band mates actually want to
eat! I've understood both cultures for many years now which make for a
better business and social sense. I can address at least German
audiences, in their mother tongue which always surprises them. We also
released two albums with Virgin Germany of which one particular album
called "Devils Road" sold 85,000 throughout Europe. We very much enjoy
our career abroad and have traveled to Europe at least once if not
twice a year to Europe for sixteen years now.
We also work with German bookers, managers and publicists. I think my German knowledge has helped in all of these aspects.
Jennifer O'Donnell Conner '83
Yes, I have used my German here and there. Before graduation... I went
to the U of Freiburg in Breisgau for the summer program. I also worked
at the World Health Organization at the UN in Vienna, Austria as an
intern. I then worked in publishing and advertising for a few years.
Next I helped a startup foreign student exchange Firm called Aspect in
San Francisco, and I used my German quite a bit there.
Then I went back to graduate school to get my K-12 teaching credential.
At first I worked as a sub, and was often asked to sub in the High
School German classes.
After that I was a 2nd grade teacher. I stopped working after the birth
of my first child 14 years ago, but I get to use my German
occasionally, like when we had an exchange student here for a year from
Hannover. Now, however, I use my Spanish much more, as I volunteer
teaching English to new immigrant students here in San Rafael, CA. Plus
I manage a soccer team where many of the families are Spanish speaking.
That is it in a nutshell.
Bernd Estabrook '84
Bernd received a distinguished professor award at Illinois College,
where he has taught since 1994. "Dr. Estabrook is perhaps the single
most energetic member of the faculty," commented Fred Ohles, vice
president for academic affairs and dean of the college. "Bernd is known
and valued for the passion he brings to his teaching." Estabrook
teaches German language, literature, and culture.
Lynn Greenough '86
Howdy, here is a brief history of what I've done since leaving Whitman.
I graduated with the class of 1986. I bummed around Eugene and Portland
for a few years before getting into the graduate program in German at
the U of O in 1990. I got my MA in German in 1992, and then spent 10
months or so in Göttingen on a Fulbright study grant. I returned to the
U of O and completed my coursework and exams for a PhD, but during that
time I had a lot of doubts as to whether I wanted to continue with
academics.
So I took a friend up on his offer to follow him to Japan and teach
English to university students. I did that for two years, and then I
moved to back Portland, where my partner, Kalli, had just started
naturopathic medical school.
In Portland I started temping at Xerox, got hired, promoted, etc., and
eventually quit to take a 9-month intensive-full time program in
information technology. Before graduating in July 2001 I was lucky to
be offered a job at the Port of Portland in the IT department. For the
past couple of years I've been developing and delivering training to
Port employees on all kinds of software and business processes.
In the meantime I had 2 kids. My daughter Lily is 7, and her little
sister Cameryn turns 4 in July. Having kids, working full time and
keeping up the house and yard take most of my free time. Fortunately my
partner works part-time, and handles the lion's share of household
logistics.
So, I don't actively use my German now, and I don't know if it has directly helped me along the path(s) that I've chosen.
I do have many fond memories of Whitman and Walla Walla; too many to
list here! One of the great things about being a German major was that
our books were very small and inexpensive. I had a huge dictionary,
though (and still have it!).
My advice to students -- take advantage of as many kinds of activities
and programs as you can while in school -- artistic, cultural,
athletic, activist, wilderness -- whatever. Get to know as many
different kinds of people as you can, too. I know you're busy with your
studies, but you won't regret it.
Karin Krueger '86
I studied at Whitman for 2 years between 1980 and 1982, and German was
just one of many classes I took - my great-great-grandfather had
immigrated mid-1800s and my grandfather on my father's side still read
and spoke German so I thought it would be interesting for me to learn.
I decided to go abroad to Germany for my junior year, as was popular to
do then - maybe it still is - and I went through a program in my
hometown through Oregon State, as it was cheaper - and I lived in
Konstanz for a year. It was a difficult year, I didn't speak German
that well in the beginning, didn't make friends that quickly, and it
was cold and dark and all of the other American students with my
program were placed in other cities - although I loved spending time in
the Altstadt, Marktplatz, etc, and I did a lot of exploring. I did meet
more Germans that spring, but through being naive I didn't realize that
they were not very nice Germans, and they actually relieved me of my
next year's tuition at Whitman. Oops!
So I went home and worked the next year rather than returning to
Whitman, but I also began to study French and Spanish - the influence
of being near Switzerland and realizing that most people in the world
speak more than 2 languages - and I was able to go back to Europe and
study half years in each of those countries. When I finally returned to
Whitman, German was the quickest way to get graduated in 1 year, so
that was what I chose.
After I graduated I went on to the University of Oregon for 2 semesters
in German, but applied to the Peace Corps at the same time and so I
only studied 2 semesters there. I thought I'd end up in South America
as I'd studied more Spanish than French, at least on paper, but the
country I was selected for was Cameroon. So I went there and stayed for
3 years as an English teacher in a rural middle school - I learned a
fifth language, Fulfulde. I ended up meeting the person I married there
and we returned to the states in 1990.
In 1990 our home language was mostly French and Fulfulde but over the
years we have become American monolinguals I guess! - we mostly speak
English to each other and our kids. I went back to school to get a
Master's in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and I used
German to pass the second language requirements for that. I've been
teaching in Corvallis Schools for 10 years and my day is divided
between duties - I support several sections of science classes for ELL
students by pre-teaching/clarifying what students have learned in
Spanish - now maybe my strongest second language - and teach English to
immigrant students, mostly Mexican, Korean, but occasionally other
countries like Japan, Israel, etc. I use German when I speak and write
to the German family that hosted me for a month the first time I went
to Germany summer 1982 - ages ago! They visited us in 1996, and we
visited them in July 2001. I guess in some sense, the German classes I
took started me down the path of life connected to other countries -
when we visit Cameroon with our kids, going through France and Germany
has a bit of a feeling of coming home for me.
Times have changed a bit, when I lived in Europe in the 80s, the dollar
was strong, Americans were popular, there was no AIDS - the German
government gave us a "Stipend" just for studying there, 500DM/month,
and I lived in France in a student dormitory for maybe $80/month and
tuition was free! - it is no longer so easy, I'm guessing. But it is
still such an important experience to live among people who speak a
different language and are of a different culture - that would be my
'advice,' for students to grab those opportunities as they present
themselves.
Claudia Cumes '93
Claudia Cumes has had a baby, and writes: "I've enjoyed my German for
more personal reasons since I have some German friends and have visited
Germany many times. I've traveled most recently to the Baltic Sea, the
Black Forest, Lake Constance and the German Alps and feel my trips have
been that much more wonderful and relaxed thanks to having studied the
language. I'm now in my 4th year of a doctoral program in clinical
psychology at Rutgers University, and I've occasionally used my German
to read up on research projects by German psychologists. Guess I could
read Freud in his own language if I wanted to . . . Otherwise, I've not
used my German much except to rescue lost German tourists in New York
City (and once in Hong Kong)."
Kris Daughters '93
I have not really used my German major much at all since leaving
Whitman. I got my Masters in Teaching at Seattle University in 1997 and
did do a brief student teaching experience in a high school German
class in the spring of 1997. I was hired to teach English at Liberty
High School in Issaquah in the fall of 1997 and have been doing that
ever since. I did take a group of students to Europe several years ago,
and we visited Switzerland where I spoke some Deutsch.
Theodore George '93
I am extremely thankful for the education I received from the German
program at Whitman, and I have many fond memories of the department,
certainly the courses I took with Professor Tobin, and especially the
wonderful and intensive independent studies Professor Soden and I did
together on Thomas Mann and Nietzsche.
The interest I developed in the German language and intellectual
heritage while at Whitman has remained an important part of my life,
and I am now an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Texas A&M
University, where I focus primarily on German philosophy.
Currently, I am in negotiations with a university press in the US to
provide an English translation of a recent German book on hermeneutics
by Günter Figal, professor of philosophy at the University of Freiburg,
Germany, entitled, Gegenständlichkeit.
Katherine Hirt '94
I graduated in 1994 and am currently working on my dissertation on
music aesthetics in nineteenth century German literature. I have used
German often since graduation from Whitman, teaching German as a
graduate teaching assistant as well as living in Slovakia (the common
language was often German), and of course, in Austria and Germany. My
skills in German helped me learn Swedish fairly rapidly. (I've been
told I actually speak Swedish with a German rather than American
accent). I switched from a music to a German major at the end of my
junior year at Whitman, and I owe it to Professors Tobin, Soden and
Estabrook (who was at Whitman my senior year) for encouraging me to
continue graduate studies in German literature.
Some of the less academic experiences I enjoyed most at Whitman
include: running on the cross-country team, going to New York for a
week with art majors, watching a meteor shower one summer from the
baseball field, studying on Ankeny field, living in the German house,
and engaging in winter activities such as ultimate Frisbee on the
snow-covered golf course and "sledding" down the hill on garbage bags.
However your knowledge of German may be useful to you after graduation,
my advice to you is to keep it up--a foreign language is a wonderful
skill, if not directly for your future career, at least personally. You
can read foreign newspapers online (for a different and sometimes quite
refreshing perspective on global events), translate letters for friends
and neighbors and of course, you can keep reading German
literature-whether medieval sagas, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Tucholsky, Sebald
or popular children's authors such as Christine Nöstlinger and Cornelia
Funke. There is also, of course, the value of studying abroad. In my
own experiences living in Slovakia, Austria, Sweden and Germany, I have
noticed that the openness and self-discovery acquired while being faced
with cultural differences often needs to be repeated. Therefore, I also
advise you to continue traveling to non-English speaking countries as
often as possible, if for no other reason than to challenge your views
on life throughout your life.
Sasha Berson '96
My, my, it has been 10 years since I've graduated from Whitman! I was a
German and Economics major and went to work on Wall Street after
graduation. I very quickly discovered that all my German business
contacts spoke fluent English and so had to pick up Spanish quickly to
make myself useful in international work :).
I now live and work in London (working for eBay) and do find German
useful once in a while, esp. when traveling in Europe. Not only does it
allow me to order a Spätzle with a Gewürztraminer, but also to sort of
understand the signs throughout the Nordic countries and in the
Netherlands!
I have very warm memories of our small classes filled with great books
with Prof. Jim Soden and the fun classes with Prof. Bob Tobin. Hope
everyone is doing well.
Gayle Christensen '98
Gayle Christensen went on to get a MA in International Relations at
Tufts, another MA in International Educational Administration and
Policy Analysis at Stanford, and a Ph.D. in Education at Stanford. She
then got a Bundeskanzler Award from the Humboldt Foundation to support
her work at the Max-Plank-Institute for Human Development. She is now a
Research Associate at the Urban Institute. Some of her work has been referenced in the German press.
Rhean Souders '98
Rhean is the assistant to the Executive Editor of The Seattle Times.
Rachel Wecker '98
After a second study year in Germany after graduation (the first being
junior year abroad), I returned to Berlin with the goal of testing out
my German skills in the working world. I got an internship with a large
automotive financial services company and six months turned into
five-and-a-half years and a full time position in Human Resources. I
guess I passed that test! Not only that, but I met my husband, a native
German, with whom I speak German 99% of the time, even though he speaks
fluent English. It's the best way to keep up my German. I'm fortunate
that I could transfer to the US to continue working with the same
German-American company in Michigan and have the opportunity to use my
German there as well.
Tanja Englberger '99
After graduating, Tanja Englberger '99 spent two years in the Peace
Corps in a remote village of Niger. She then completed a Masters of
Public Health at Emory, which led to more public health projects in
Africa.
Mark W. Neff '99
My current work has nothing to do with German language, but has a lot
to do with what I read in German classes. I'm currently a PhD student
at Arizona State University where I study science policy, the creation
of scientific knowledge, and the ways in which science shapes the way
we see the world. I first started thinking about some of these ideas
while reading books and novellas for German classes at Whitman (e.g.,
Christa Wolf's Storfall, Duerrenmatt's Die Physiker, etc.)
I've had a variety of jobs since graduating from Whitman, including
biomedical research, environmental advocacy, and a stint as a
professional ski bum. Each boss along the way has made some comment
suggesting that they hired me because of my diverse educational
background. My advice to any students interested in German (but unsure
if they want to pursue careers specific to the language or culture) is
that they should stick with it. It will lead to opportunities and ideas
that you did not expect.
Lisa Beyl '01
Lisa Beyl is completing a degree at the School of International Policy
and Analysis at Columbia University and gives a quick update on her
current project:
My project is working as a Municipal Development Volunteer in the
Municipal Planning Office of Chiantla, Huehuetenango. Since Guatemala
doesn't really have a culture of planning, I have spent quite a bit of
time getting people to come to staff meetings, developing annual and
monthly plans for the office and trying (so far in vain) to get my
office-mates to prioritize the many different projects that we are
supposedly working on. The fun part of my job relates to increasing
women's civic participation.
I have learned so much about the challenges facing rural women by
attending a monthly civics workshop for women. All the women attendees
are local leaders. Despite that, most can't read. Those who can, do so
at an elementary level. In many communities, parents don't send their
daughters to school. And in almost all of rural Guatemala, educational
opportunities - for those lucky enough to get to go to school - only
extend until 6th grade. I have been visiting rural schools. Frequently
one teacher is responsible for the whole school. Yes, that means that
he or she is teaching 6 grades and probably about 70 students. Clearly,
this is not an ideal learning environment. I hope that working with
mothers - teaching them about their rights, helping them understand how
to advocate on behalf of themselves, getting them registered to vote -
will slowly help. We are also working to open a women's office in my
muni that would help women's groups secure funding for projects in
their communities. Little by little, as the Guatemalans say, I hope
that some of these initiatives will bear fruit.
Kristin Cain '01
I am currently living in the
Netherlands, using my German skills to help me learn Dutch. I'm
planning on applying to a Masters program in Conflict Resolution and
Human Rights in Utrecht next spring. I also taught German for a year
and a half in China, including a master's literature class-somewhat
beyond my qualifications, but quite interesting. I did the Whitman in
China program and stayed on afterward.
Mark Lanning '02
After having received a Pickering to study international policy at the
Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, Mark Lanning is working for the
foreign service. He writes: "I'm working as the lone political officer
at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) China.
We're about 2 hours by train from Hong Kong. I cover mostly political
issues like health, labor, human rights, Taiwan relations, etc. from
the Southern China perspective. I'll be here 2 years." He adds:
"Guangzhou is awesome: the Lonely Planet calls it the best food city in
the world."
Eric Lindsay '06
I am currently working as a German Speaking Park Ranger in Sequoia and
kings Canyon National Park. It was my language skill which enabled me
to get this job, and I get to speak to Germans many times everyday,
which is fun!
Find out more about the Class of 2006 also!
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