by Morris Arvoy

ALBION, Mich. – Two Albion College seniors have been awarded Fulbright grants to teach in Germany during the 2006-2007 academic year.

The students, seniors Rebecca Anthouard (right) and Natalie Corbin (left), will be teaching English during the year at the middle or high school level but have not yet been assigned to a specific location.

Across the country, the Fulbright Program awards 140 teaching assistantships each year. Catherine Grimm, assistant professor of German in the foreign languages department, said she is pleased both for the students and the College.

“It’s an honor for the students and for us,” Grimm said. “It reflects well on the department and on Natalie and Rebecca. Opportunities will open up for them during their year in Germany.”

Anthouard, a German and chemistry double major from Farmington who was born in France and moved to the U.S. when she was 8, called the opportunity her version of the American Dream: “going abroad, living for a year, seeing what I’m made of.”

“I’ve done it before with my parents, but this time it’s just me,” she said. “It’s taking it to another level. I’m excited about Germany and the opportunity to teach English in the classroom.”

Corbin, a German and English/creative writing double major from Kalamzoo, said she was “ridiculously excited” when she learned about the Fulbright grant.

“I think it’s going to be a wonderful experience,” Corbin said. “I hope to be an English professor one day, and this gives me a chance to teach hands-on and use both subjects I’ve been studying. I want the German students to use poetry and creative writing to help them learn English.”

Both students previously studied in Heidelberg, Germany, under the auspices of the American Junior Year (AJY) program sponsored by Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. Anthouard traveled there in the summer of 2004 to learn German grammar, composition, literature and history at the University of Heidelberg, and Corbin spent the spring semester 2005 at Heidelberg University learning German as a foreign language.

Anthouard and Corbin will graduate from Albion in commencement exercises May 13.

The Fulbright program is the largest U.S. exchange program, offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. Since the establishment of the program in 1946, more than 42,000 students from the U.S. and 147,000 students from other countries have benefited from the Fulbright experience.

For more information contact Morris Arvoy at 517-629-0543 or marvoy@albion.edu.

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