Maya is a fourth-year student with a medial in German and Psychology. She is also pursuing a Certificate in International Studies and has been awarded departmental Scholarship for Study in Germany. Her interest in German started early-on:
" I decided to pursue a degree in German to both connect with my heritage and open myself up to opportunities in the future. Having been raised by two German parents, I have been exposed to the language and the culture from a very young age. However, it wasn’t until I began my career at Queen’s that I was able to truly understand the interaction between the two and how it affected my family. In the future I hope to live and work in Germany and through my classes here at Queen’s I believe that that is now a real possibility.
The structure of the medial works really well with my learning style, as it allows me to pursue interest in a variety of subject matters. It can definitely be challenging at times, as my two chosen fields of study (Psychology and German Studies) often function very differently, but I believe that learning to balance the two different styles of teaching and learning will benefit me later in life.
When I graduate I hope move to Germany and start a career in business, specifically sales and/or marketing. This degree will be instrumental in helping me achieve this goal as it has given me an understanding of the language and culture of the country that I will be living in.
The professors and administrators working within the department have been tremendously helpful. The benefit of being a part of a smaller department is that, as a student, you are able to engage with the professors and the department directly. I can honestly say that my time at Queen’s would not have been the same had I not been a part of this department.
I have recently completed a semester studying abroad in the Netherlands and will soon be beginning a month long German language program at the University of Constance in Germany. Both of these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities were made available to me by the LLCU department, and I would urge anyone thinking of studying language or cultures at Queen’s to take advantage of these or various similar programs."