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Off to Germany on a Fulbright

Graduating senior Scott Morris earns the prestigious grant to teach English and study German.

Scott Morris, a member of the Elmhurst College Class of 2008, has earned a Fulbright grant to teach and study in Germany for the 2008-09 academic year.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship is a program designed to strengthen English-language instruction in other nations, and also to strengthen America’s international relations.

Morris will teach English within what Germans call a “Gymnasium,” a challenging secondary school comparable to an American college-prep high school.  He will teach up to 12 hours per week, and also plans on taking courses at a German university (“and maybe an internship too,” he said), in an effort to take full advantage of the Fulbright opportunity.  Morris’ Teaching Assistantship will cover virtually all of his expenses.

What makes the experience even greater is Morris’ long-standing enthusiasm for both German language and culture.  “I took an eighth-grade German class, and I loved it immediately, the first day,” he recalled.  Although nearly a decade has since gone by, he stated that, “I have never stopped thinking about a career in German.” 

Indeed, one of the reasons Morris chose to enroll at Elmhurst was the College’s German roots -- it was founded by Germans in 1871, and for decades served as a training ground for German ministers.  “I was also very impressed that the German program at Elmhurst required travel abroad,” he said.

Since enrolling, Morris has established himself as “a serious and creative student, with an outstanding academic record,” according to Dr. Earl Thompson, professor emeritus of foreign languages and literatures.  “Scott has driven himself to finish college in just three years, and he consistently seeks to gather valuable pre-professional experiences, and to examine career options.”

A German major, Morris has been honored as Elmhurst’s foreign language student of the year and is a member of five academic honor societies.  Looking ahead, Morris is considering teaching, business, and law school as potential career steps.

Morris is the first Elmhurst College student to receive the Fulbright Teaching Assistantship.  Two former students (Oksana Didyk, Class of 1981, and Jacquelyn L. Jancius, Class of 2000), previously earned the prestigious grants through other Fulbright programs.

For further information, call (630) 617-3033.