Katharine Fredricksen '15 is spending the 2015-16 academic year teaching English in Austria on a program funded by the Austrian federal government.
Katharine Fredricksen, a history major with minors in German studies and early childhood education, will work at two elementary schools in Vienna during the year.
In this program, known as USTA, English-speaking college graduates work as secondary school teaching assistants in cities and towns all over Austria. The TAs support teachers in English classrooms, providing conversation practice, language instruction, and a first-hand perspective on American culture.
Fredricksen notes that in addition to her minor in German Studies, which prepared her linguistically and culturally for life in a German-speaking country, she benefited most from the support of Elon faculty and staff. She names the Fellowships office under Professor Janet Myers as an essential part of her success, as well as the encouragement of German studies faculty such as Associate Professor Scott Windham.
After her year in Austria, Fredricksen is considering work with Holocaust studies or Holocaust education, a field that would unite her interests and skills in history, German studies and education.