Wheaton alumna Courtney McPhail wins Fulbright Scholarship to Germany
April 27, 2007
Wheaton College alumna Courtney McPhail, a 2005 graduate from New York, N.Y., who majored in German and minored in studio art, will teach English in Germany as a 2007 Fulbright Scholar.
McPhail studied abroad in Regensburg, Germany, in her junior year and is eager to return. "I have a deep rooted love for Germany, the language and culture," she said. She plans to sharpen her German language skills while abroad and hopes to become a German translator or teacher. She is also looking forward to improving German students' English skills and facilitating an "exchange of language and culture," she said.
Her passion for Germany began as a child when she befriended a German girl while living in Australia with her family. Her father's job required that she and her family move a lot, which gave her exposure to different cultures. In addition to living in Australia, McPhail has lived in Hawaii, Malaysia and numerous places in the United States, and has traveled extensively in Europe.
"Relocating frequently during my childhood and teenage years was a major part of my life that has had a lasting affect on me," she said. "Constantly being placed into new environments, foreign countries with different languages, cultures and customs taught me to be more adaptable and able to abandon my inhibitions and actually flourish from the experience." McPhail said such a transitory upbringing has made her open minded and culturally aware.
While abroad her junior year, McPhail taught conversational English and gained valuable skills and tactics for teaching. "In my own experience, I have found that immersion and experiential learning are the most educational," she said. "I would like to bring this kind of learning into the classroom."
"She has a wealth of ideas for promoting what she has come to value as the most effective way of acquiring foreign language skills," said Reinhard Mayer, visiting associate professor of German. "Her interest in experiential learning shows her engagement in and analytical reflection on her own experiences of learning a foreign language, and also project her enthusiasm about teaching."
Since graduation, McPhail has been working as a recruiter in a New York City staffing agency. At Wheaton, she was a member of the German Club, a dean's list student and the recipient of the Hedda Korsch Prize in German in 2005. She also worked as an assistant in the German department her senior year.