I completed an internship for the Deutsche Börse Group, the firm that operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. I worked in their Content Marketing and Editorial Services department, where I assisted a team responsible for the publication of the yearly corporate report and for the proofreading of various texts. The coolest parts of my internship were twofold: first, my colleagues possessed an unusual combination of incredible ability and competency and humility and patience, which I found especially important as a non-native speaker. This made working with them an absolute joy. Second, it’s really cool to be able to google Deutsche Börse’s corporate report, download the PDF, and know that I had a role in putting everything together. Of course, some days were long or particularly challenging, but I can’t think of a better way to spend the break between semesters.

Interning at the Institute of Biochemistry in Mainz was an experience that made an enormous impression upon me. It not only exponentially improved my ability to speak German, it provided a completely different look at life in Germany that I never would have received just studying as an exchange student at the university. I witnessed dull office work, exciting results from experiments, presentations in both German and English, fights between colleagues, how the individuals in the lab throw office parties, and how they commute. It enlarged my view of what I am capable of both learning and doing and has fostered my interest in the biochemical research field, which I had previously put on the back burner at Middlebury. I am deeply thankful that I chose to make the first nerve-wracking call to the lab office and light the flame again.

My three-month internship in Das Institut für Geschichtliche Landeskunde an der Universität Mainz e.V. was rewarding. Not only did I help the institute write articles about the history and the war memorials in an idyllic town called Friesenheim in Rheinhessn, I also invested my time in writing an interesting paper on the French schools in Saargebiet from 1919 to 1935. My sponsor there encouraged me to explore my topic even though sometimes I encountered problems, like resources in French, which I did not understand. With her help, I finished my paper before the due date and I was satisfied with my work. During my time at Landeskunde Mainz, I also learned how to combine modern technology like InDesign and TYPO-3 with the academic work I did. I like the idea that the institute uses not only the traditional paper format but also the electronic format to show the public their findings and reports. My colleagues were always friendly to me, inviting me to lunches and different events in Mainz like Mainz Museumsnacht (Mainz Museum Night) and a boules match. The internship was also a good opportunity for me to see how academic researchers work and conduct their researches. It was good for me because I want to be a historian in the future.

While studying at the Johannes-Gutenberg-University in Mainz I completed an internship at the Gymnasium am kurfürstlichen Schloss, which correlates with American middle and high schools. Grades 5 through 12 were represented there. The experience was extremely rewarding. The teachers with whom I worked were supportive and served as excellent mentors. The students were very motivated and excited to come into contact with someone from another culture. The internship confirmed my interest in education, and I feel that I have gained important pedagogical and didactic experience that will make me a better foreign language teacher. At the beginning of the internship, I followed different classes and observed them during instruction. After I had been at the school for two weeks, I developed a more specific schedule which allowed me to concentrate on German, German as a foreign language and English courses. I was able to help to plan and carry out my own lessons. I found this experience to be especially rewarding.

For six weeks (not for credit), I interned at the SCHIRN Kunsthalle in Frankfurt during the René Magritte and Richard Gerstl exhibits. In the course of my internship I assisted with daily workshops that were related to the theme of the current exhibits and substituted for workshop leaders who were sick. I prepared materials and assembled/disassembled tables and chairs for the workshops. I also spent the first half of my internship planning and testing projects for the bi-annual Children’s Art Night (Kinder Kunstnacht) event and led a workshop on making tissue paper roses for it. Throughout the internship I attended tours and observed what different pedagogical techniques were implemented for various groups (elementary school children, middle school children, teenagers, adults, young adults with mental challenges). In addition I assisted with workshops and interview for the Domino Project with underprivileged youth centers in Frankfurt. I learned how to apply museum labels to the walls of the Gerstl exhibit and assisted in whatever capacities I could around the office. I was also able to contribute English translations and edit certain documents and some website interfaces, and provided english captions to some SCHIRN instagram posts on Gerstl’s work.

I helped in the field-experiment “Wählen gehen.” My responsibilities included preparing documents for the field experiment (e.g. Laufpläne, Dokumentationsbögen), collecting data in the field (e.g. distributing flyers), data input (of all the data collected from the field), and preliminary data analysis.I learned more about the research process and what a workday for a political researcher looks like. In addition, I found about certain German laws (e.g. Datenschutz) that make research in Germany different than in the US. I understand why internships are recommended for the second semester. It’s a lot of work! I would say the experience made my stay abroad more stressful, but it also showed me another aspect of German culture that I wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise.

In my time at the printing shop I mainly helped school students about the classic ways of printing text, mixing colors and making pictures. My favorite part about working at the printing shop was the amazing staff. I learned so much about the intricate art of typesetting and document making just by watching them work every day. They were always friendly, supportive and most importantly, fun. Every day of work was a new adventure with different challenges, but I always felt like a member of the team. I would definitely recommend this internship to anyone who wants to know more about printing press history and likes working with children. It is also a great way to get engage with the town of Mainz outside of the University. I can honestly say that my internship was one of the best parts of my study abroad experience.

This research internship focused on a project investigating the effect of homework performance and student preferences on a final exam grade. For the first part of my internship, I mostly cleaned up a dataset, conducted a literature review and did some preliminary statistical analyses. Later on, I built a regression model and a few decision trees: most of my work was done in R Studio, Stata and partially Excel. I was also involved in a few logistical elements of a math course, such as serving as a student helper during an exam viewing session. Everyone at my work place was very nice, and I felt supported throughout the eight weeks. 

A fundamental component of my second semester, interning as a student assistant at the Catholic Studies division of the Faculty of Theology (mainly for the Department of Ancient Ecclesiastical History and Patristics) positively enhanced my overall study-abroad experience with the Middlebury C.V. Starr School in Germany (JGU, Mainz).

This position led to concurrent (ostensibly contradictory) outcomes – the refinement of and expansion beyond my primary academic focus (IP&E) – by leading to theological and ethical research on the international political economy and fostering the exploration of uncharted scholastic avenues. With Religion as my minor and personal background as a Catholic, I was intrigued by theology for general (abroad) and specific (regional) reasons: The otherwise comprehensive purview of disciplines available at the Vermont campus does not include this specialty, and intertwined with its Roman legacy, Mainz offers a rich Catholic history, as is manifestly highlighted visually by the soaring Dom and technically by the Bishopric’s unique title as sancta sedes (only shared by the more famous “Holy See”).

The challenges of the internship were balanced by a flexibility that allowed for me to delve into personally meaningful work. As an example, between various tasks for the annual colloquium (“TheMa-Tag 2019: Ethical and Theological Challenges of Digitalization”), I could sit in on sessions, of which one inspired the topic for my term paper (Hausarbeit). Collaborating with a professor from another division, I conducted interdisciplinary research concerning the theological, economic, and philosophical perspectives on the ethics of automated driving systems.

The dynamic process of my weekly work ensured that projects were engaging, manageable, and relevant. More involved assignments typically involved English for translating, proofreading, or revising, for example, the website, presentations, recommendation letters, and works pending publication in prestigious academic journals. On the other hand, the internship opened up many more opportunities to develop my German further. I had to first familiarize myself with subject-specific concepts before beginning assignments that already were quite complex and demanded meticulous scrutiny. Carefully observing then adapting to the daily professional standards, I gained unique insights into the German work environment, which substantiated but also challenged my theories regarding the broader cultural paradigm.

In conclusion, I happily reflect on countless moments from the internship. All of this experience’s academic (technical and general), vocational, and social benefits define some of the most important moments of my year abroad in Mainz.

Through miracle workings of Juliane Drauschke I was somehow able to find an internship that is relevant to my major, Religion (Concentration: East Asia, hence miracle). At the university I interned at the indology department, which offers courses in south asian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism) literature and languages, not only spoken (Hindi), but also written (Sankrit). While it would have been great to add Sanskrit to the roster of languages I can master, the focus was on acquiring more German skills. Also, one does not simply start learning Sanskrit. The internship ran from March 28th to June 28th, during which I attended two classes, Laguages of Buddhism (lecture) and Introduction to Buddhism(seminar), offered by two of my supervisors, Prof. Dr. Almuth Degener and Frau Nina M. Obstoi respectively. The first few weeks I primarily assisted Prof. Degener with course planning, compiling exam questions, practice exam questions. In addition to these tasks, my job entailed tasks such as getting mail, fetching and returning library books. For the setting of exam questions, I actually played an important role. I was so to speak the test-subject: If I could understand the question, given, suffice it to say, my lower proficiency relative to that of German students, then the question was well and clearly formulated. Apart from that I got to meet a number of people: e.g. a number of professors/researchers an Indian author and the Indian Consul General to Germany.

How this experience generally contributed to my stay abroad: 

I definitely got more and more comfortable communicating in German. I got daily exposure/practice. When one has only 2 days of classes a week, it is easy to spend the rest of the week at home with minimal contact with German.

The supervisors are the best people you could ever hope to work with. Yes, ‘with.’ They did go out of their way, at least it felt like that, to break the barrier of authority; therefore I never felt like I only worked ‘for’ them, rather I was treated like part of the team.

I spent three months at a secondary school in Germany observing and teaching in German class (essentially like Language Arts) and English Foreign Language classes. I taught lessons in the sixth, seventh, eighth, tenth, and eleventh grades and also observed in several other classes. I was also occasionally called upon to substitute for my cooperating teacher either for entire days, singular classes, or for monitoring recess. I was sometimes given plans and asked to carry them out with students and was also sometimes required to conceptualize a lesson myself. It was quite an interesting experience to get to know the German school system, as it is quite different than the American school system.