Graduate student Kevin Hall recipient of Fulbright grant, to travel to Germany to teach English
Central Michigan University graduate student Kevin Hall has been named the recipient of the Fulbright Grant.
The Fulbright program is sponsored by the U.S. government and strives to increase mutual understanding between U.S. citizens and people of other countries. Recipients are expected to represent the U.S. as cultural ambassadors.
The Fulbright website recognizes this scholarship as “the most widely recognized and prestigious international program in the world."
Hall was chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants to be offered an English teaching assistantship in Germany. While abroad, he will be teaching English in a high school, as well as continuing research on his thesis for his Master's program.
History professor Eric Johnson said receiving the Fulbright Scholarship is not only impressive for the Caro graduate student personally, but for the university as a whole.
“I think there have only been about five people in the university’s history who have been awarded this scholarship,” Johnson said. “It’s a big deal.”
Johnson was Hall’s undergraduate adviser for his history major and recalls him being a modest and hard-working student.
“He wrote a 46-page paper during one of my courses, and it could have honestly been publishable,” Johnson said. “And I don’t say that often.”
Hall, who graduated from CMU in 2012 with a double major in history and German, is now pursuing his master's degree in history and has hopes to eventually earn his doctorate.
“My goal is to eventually become a professor of modern German history, an archivist or work in international relations between Germany and the U.S.,” Hall said.
German professor James Jones said Hall excels in the classroom because of his knowledge of history.
"He was able to speak very well, and, in a way, that was beyond the depth of other students because of traveling (to Germany) and really soaking in the language," Jones said.
Hall interned at Volkswagen in Ludwigshafen and Meyer Werft in Papenburg.
Jones said those three internships will benefit Hall and set him ahead in the workforce. Jones said there was a vast improvement in Hall's speaking ability after his trips to Germany.
"I had him in class before he went and then a few times after his internships," Jones said. "He was fluent, but beyond that, he had an understanding of original German sources and would be able to communicate better internationally."
Hall said he sees himself returning to Germany, perhaps permanently.
“I think Germany is an amazing country, and I can see myself living and working there in the future,” he said.
