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Ben Shivers standing outside the Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, during his summer 2008 internship.
Q) How has Wheaton equipped you for the Fulbright experience?
A) I have always loved languages. In the past four years, I’ve come from being a low, intermediate German speaker to being very conversational. I’ve also taken some French and a year of Chinese while at Wheaton. I’ve come a long way in my understanding of how languages work. I’ve also taken twelve hours of master-level TESOL courses this year.
When you learn someone else’s language, it’s humbling because you can’t speak it very well—you sound like a little kid. But I think it demonstrates a lot of humility if you struggle to speak to someone in their native language, as opposed to expecting them to speak yours. Speaking someone else’s language facilitates a better understanding of their culture, because language and culture are so connected.
A lot of people at secular institutions talk a lot about cross-cultural understanding and respect. To me, this seems grounded in a humanistic worldview, which could easily drift from intercultural understanding into relativism. I hope the inter-cultural understanding I can gain through speaking another language ultimately points to God’s sovereignty over His creation and His love for people.
Q) Ben, have you thought about life after Fulbright yet?
A) I’m really excited about Fulbright because it’s a good opportunity to try out a few things, particularly teaching. I’m interested in teaching, whether it be a foreign language here or English overseas somewhere. This will give me a chance to see if I like teaching high school students or another age group. I will be able to see if I like living abroad, and if that’s something I will want to continue. I want to go to grad school, but all the advice I got was don’t do that until you know what you want to do. I’m excited I found an intermediary opportunity to help decide that.
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Soon, senior Ben Shivers will be leaving Wheaton for another home-away-from-home. Ben is a 2008-2009 Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship award recipient, and will spend the next year living and working in Germany.
While many of his peers began their job searches this past year, Ben, a German and International Relations double major, knew his desire was to return to Germany. “I first went to Germany when I was 13 and then again when I was 15 for short-term mission trips. I absolutely loved those trips,” says Ben. “They were the highlights of my life in high school—really until I went back to Germany last summer.”
This past summer, Ben spent ten weeks in the country as part of the Wheaton in Germany program. In the middle of that experience, he took six weeks to do an internship in Berlin, at the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament. “It was fairly unusual to be an American working in the Bundestag—and quite a privilege.”
That internship was the first time Ben was fully engulfed in the German language and culture. He sees the Fulbright opportunity as an extension of that experience. “I don’t think I could design a more fitting program. I love Germany, I love the German language, and I’ve really enjoyed the teaching I’ve done so far. So it combines the areas I’m most enthusiastic about.”
The Fulbright program is a one year opportunity, beginning with four days of training in Cologne, Germany starting September 8. Ben has asked for an assignment in the region of Mecklenburg, which is in the northeast part of the country and was formerly part of East Germany.
Ben Shivers is the third Wheaton College student to receive a Fulbright scholarship in as many years, and the second to teach in Germany.
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