Making Study Abroad Possible

Breanna Williams came to the College of Charleston with a mission: to study abroad as part of her university experience.

At a tabling event during orientation Williams met Morgan Koerner, associate professor of German. She was wowed by his passion for the language and decided to sign up for a class. Williams fell in love with the language, culture and history — Germany would be where she would study abroad.

The first-generation student realized that she had a lot of planning to make her dream a reality. First, she had to figure out how to meet her major requirements for elementary education and German studies. She determined that if she took care of all her core classes and German her first two years at the College, she could take all her education courses her final two years.

Second, she had to convince her grandparents, with whom she is very close, to let her go. She was the first in her family to travel overseas, and they were concerned for her safety, but Williams convinced them that she would be in good hands.

Third, she had to manage the finances. Williams developed a chart outlining all the expenses, what resources she had in hand and how much she needed to be able to participate in the summer study abroad program. She worked closely with the Department of German and Russian Studies for guidance on how to apply for scholarships.

“I learned that I needed to tailor my essays to the scholarship,” says Williams, who managed to get the funding to fulfill her dream with the Elizabeth Anne Eady Memorial Scholarship, the David J. Cohen Endowed/Annual Scholarship for Study Abroad, the CofC Foundation Scholarship – Meeting Street Charleston Compact, the German Studies Award, the CIE Abroad Scholarship, the Andrew Sobiesuo Scholarship and the nationally competitive Gilman Scholarship.

“Breanna is a fantastic student and an intellectually curious, open person with the kind of chutzpah that it takes to make the absolute most of an immersive study abroad experience,” says Koerner. “We were excited to be able to lower the financial barriers to study abroad by providing scholarship funding from German studies and coaching Breanna and our other students to apply to every other possible source of funding.”

Williams studied abroad in Berlin, Germany, for three months over the summer. The first month was an intensive language class, followed by a two-month internship and evening German classes.

“The classes were way different than the teaching of a foreign language in the U.S.,” says Williams, who never missed a class. “All classes were in German, and my classmates were from all over the world. It was a truly humbling experience.”

Still, no matter how challenging the program was, it was worth it. Williams’ German improved by leaps and bounds, which prepared her for her internship with Girls Gearing Up, a non-profit leadership program for girls between the ages of 13 and 20.

“I was tasked with helping set up the academy, which had more than 50 girls from different countries,” says Williams. “I helped coordinate events and activities to strengthen the participants’ leadership skills. Of course, they also had to be fun.”

The internship has been a positive learning experience for Williams. She found the pacing to be quite different — she spent a lot of time waiting for responses. She liked that everyone on the team pitched in when help was needed, including handling the massive amounts of paperwork required when working with children.

“I developed a new patience working with people, something that I will need as an educator,” says Williams, who also appreciated the meticulous detail of the academy’s schedule. “Everything was planned down to the minute.”

While in Berlin, Williams learned just how diverse cultures can be. She was surprised to see children walking around the city by themselves, which is not so common in the U.S. She was also amazed at the number of bicycles in the city and the fact that people didn’t lock them.

Not only did Williams earn 12 credits toward her German major, but she also gained some valuable knowledge that will help her as an elementary school teacher.

“Germany holds the title of being one of the leading countries when it comes to education,” she explains. “Learning how their classrooms operate and seeing how children respond has been really interesting.”

Williams’ experience in Berlin has been transformative, from the planning to the actual experience. She took herself out of her comfort zone and took on all the opportunities and challenges that came her way.

“Breanna serves as an example of how if you put in the time and effort and follow our advice, you can receive a great deal of financial support that will make a transformative study abroad experience in German-speaking Europe very manageable,” says Koerner. “My colleagues and I are excited and eager to help make this happen for even more students moving forward!”