Formal Education: A First Person Narrative*

Because I am a first generation German-American, I used undergraduate and graduate opportunities to study German (Germanistik) and contemporary German history at universities in Braunschweig, Munich and Wuerzburg (where the maternal grandfather I never met studied Physics).

In Germany, my generation is known as "the grandchildren of the Second World War."

German Fluency

I used to be fluent in German when I worked as a translator of patent claims at an international intellectual property law firm in Munich. I had also achieved fluency when I received a Fulbright Creative Writing Grant and researched contemporary German history (1933-1945) in archives.

Several years have passed since then but my favorite language will return when I visit again like a familiar tune.

Bachelor of Arts

State University of New York at Albany granted me a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and German, cum laude.

My liberal arts education in systems of government has informed my career and life.

Graduate and Post Graduate

Sarah Lawrence College accepted me into its graduate nonfiction writers program when it was still a competitive writers' program. Currently, the school admits 72% of applicants. I don't know if it was the cult scandal and consequent oversight of the school's administration that plagued this once venerable institution or if AI asynchronous learning is making the most expensive liberal arts college in the country obsolete.

Two of the finest and most dedicated Professors recently ended their careers at SLC, including the recent dissolving of the entire German Department.

Unfortunately while earning my Masters of Fine Arts, I witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 from the World Financial Center. I walked through the WTC on mornings that year while studying in Bronxville. This eye witness changed the course of my life, as it did the world. I finished my degree, magna cum laude, in a state of trauma. Here is a published first person narrative about this experience.

After receiving my Masters of Fine Art in Nonfiction Writing,  I returned to the University of Munich again with a Fulbright and through different German literature and history Professors, was granted access into archives all over the country. I worked closely with the White Rose Foundation at the University of Munich and received recommendations from them.

Professional Accreditations