SLLC Undergraduate New DAAD Young Ambassador

It is no wonder undergraudate senior Ota was chosen to represent DAAD here at the University of Maryland, as he is a German, French, and Linguistics triple major, with nearly a year of study abroad experience under his belt. DAAD, a German national agency, seeks to foster international exchange for both German students who wish to study abroad and international students visiting Germany. The agency provides funding for study and research to qualifying students and faculty to encourage international academic exchange. In particular, DAAD also aims to promote Germany as a viable and exciting location for international study abroad.

 

As a DAAD Young Ambassador, Ota will organize campus events open to the university community to educate students about DAAD scholarships and other study abroad opportunities. As an alum of DAAD, where he studied with the program this past summer, Ota will not only share personal anecdotes of studying in Germany but will also serve as an excellent resource for information regarding scholarships, program applications, and research opportunities.

 

Ota’s study abroad experience includes university-level language coursework at the University of Nice in France and Eberhard Karls University in Germany. In general, his study abroad coursework focused on advanced linguistics, language history, and literature. Aside from a challenging and immersive language environment, Ota says, “We can all be thankful where we step outside of our comfort zone” when studying abroad, as it is there that we grow the most and come to understand those around us.

 

As for upcoming plans, Ota will take off a year before attending graduate school. Ota plans to teach English during this gap-year in France or Germany, or perhaps work for the State Department. Ota also has his sights set on the University of Texas at Austin for graduate school, where he aims to study the linguistic phenomena associated with French and German. For now, however, here at the University of Maryland you can find Ota studying up on his German or organizing exciting, new DAAD events.