Not only do CeLTA’s interns help MSU students tell their language stories, they often also have their own stories to tell. Grace Mortson was a social media intern with the MSU Languages campaign last year with one such story. An advertising and German double major, she left CeLTA this year, but for good reason: to study abroad in Germany through the Academic Year in Freiburg program. Though she’s only halfway through the program, her experience has already brought plenty of interesting experiences and time for reflection alike.
After moving to Freiburg last August, Grace got to experience some of the everyday challenges that go along with adjusting to a new country, from moving into a multilingual apartment, to being completely immersed in a language that she started later than most and hadn’t yet perfected. One particular example of her cultural adjustment struck Grace as particularly funny in retrospect.
Getting sick at the beginning of the semester—which would’ve been hard enough to deal with at home—was made more difficult by the challenge of navigating a new medical system. Something as simple as going to the doctor was suddenly a process. Most memorably, Grace remembers walking into the waiting room in pain, not wanting to talk to anyone; instead, she was greeted by every single person in the room as she walked through the door. Discussing it with her German boyfriend later, she shared her annoyance and confusion as to why anyone would be so chatty to a sick person; he shrugged, saying it was just the polite thing to do. Remembering it now, she laughs at the simplicity of the cultural norm that she wasn’t prepared for. It’s the little moments like these that sometimes have the best ability to catch us off guard when living in a new country.
With the exception of these daily adjustments, though, moving to Germany was not as complete of a culture shock for Grace as it could’ve been; she’d already visited the country before to see her boyfriend’s family. She and Justin have been dating for several years now; they met while he was spending a year studying at her high school here in Michigan. Their relationship and her past experiences in Germany definitely influenced her decision to study the language at MSU to some extent, she says.
Grace had always wanted to study a foreign language, and though her first few French classes in high school didn’t really stick, she wanted to try more. Then, on her first day of orientation at Michigan State, she signed up for German 101 without thinking. There wasn’t a specific moment when she decided that this was the language she’d try next. At best, she figures it was almost subconscious given her personal connection to it. One memory she has of her first time in Germany sticks out as an example: while meeting Justin’s parents, she recalls the feeling of sitting between the three of them on the couch, and not understanding a word they were saying. She hated that feeling.
She’s come a long way since that moment. After the first class she took at MSU, she says she was completely hooked; even though they met three days a week and early in the morning, she loved going to class. By the time she’d taken a few more classes and decided to attend the Freiburg program, an additional major just made sense.
After spending a few months in Freiburg, Grace had already spent more time thinking about her goals and experiences abroad than most. In the first week of the program, faculty encouraged the students to think about what kind of American they wanted to be while abroad. She’s been exploring that question, while also taking it further to ask herself what kind of identity she wants to carry with her after the program as well. Rather than just having partying and traveling around Europe for a few months, Grace has been intentional about setting goals for her trip and considering how her experiences will affect her future.
One of the ideas she’s spent a lot of time reflecting on is a reality that all language learners are familiar with. When you immerse yourself in a second (or third, or fourth) language and culture, it inevitably shapes your personal identity. “There are different parts of you that come out in another culture,” Grace says. It’s not easy for her to pinpoint the exact ways in which she’s different, but the feeling that she describes as having a sort of second persona is unmistakable.
She’s also thought some about her career; one opportunity she’s excited about is a translation class she’s taking next semester, which could open up another way to connect her majors into a future career. Whether or not she moves to Germany someday, as she’s considered, she hopes to work somewhere where she could use her knowledge of the German culture and language. Of course, with six months left in the program, Grace has lots of time to keep figuring it all out. But whatever comes next in her life, this time of self-discovery and exploration through the lens of a second language will be invaluable.
– Story by Katherine Stark
