CBYX program connects Auburn, Germany

Contributed Auburn Villager Elizabeth Barrett in Germany

Four Auburn University students got an experience of a lifetime when they were chosen to be part of a group of students and young professionals participating in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) program.

Four Auburn University students got an experience of a lifetime when they were chosen to be part of a group of students and young professionals participating in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) program.

In recent years, Elizabeth Barrett and Mark Keske participated as undergraduates, and Rory Rudolph and Kathryn Limbaugh participated as recent graduates. They were chosen to be among the program's 75 yearly participants.

The program gives students and young professionals in fields such as engineering, business and agriculture the opportunity to intern at a German company after completing two months of intensive language training and four months at a German university or professional school.

The year-long scholarship program was created by the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag, said Harold Conrad, director of global education initiatives in AU's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. The program also sends 75 Germans to America.

"I really think the best part was the people I met," said Elizabeth Barrett, a graduate in aerospace engineering who participated in the program from August 2007 to July 2008 while she was still a student.

"I still keep in contact with my host parents from while I was there, as well as a handful of friends I made from the program, both German and American."

Dr. Larry Benefield, dean of the College of Engineering, wanted some type of study abroad program for his students, so he asked Conrad to help promote and locate international opportunities for engineering students.

"For those students who aspire to work in a global economy, this is one of many opportunities to do that--it gives them first-hand knowledge of another place," Conrad said.

Rudolph had already graduated and is still in Germany participating in the program. He started in August of 2009, after graduation, and his term ends in July.

Rudolph said he joined the program in part because of the poor job market in his field of wireless electrical engineering at the time of his graduation.

"My favorite experience has been living with and making friends with my roommates in Saarbrücken," Rudolph said. "I lived in an apartment with a German girl and a French guy, both in their 20s, and it was absolutely incredible."

Most students are housed with host families while in Germany.

Participants spend the first two months at a foreign language school learning German. No prior experience with the language is necessary, but is recommended. The next four months are spent taking classes that correspond with student's and participants majors and interests. The last five months are spent interning.

William Maier, program officer for CBYX in New York City, said the group represents the U.S. abroad, and CBYX tries to reflect the diversity of the United States, as well as the diversity of career fields.

"The program enables its participants to go abroad and learn a new culture and new language," Maier said. "The bigger picture is that the U.S. and Germany get to dispel stereotypes about Germany's culture and its people."

Barrett said she never had the money or opportunity to study abroad and applied to the program without ever thinking she would be selected. Now that the experience is over, Barrett said she is more than happy she took the opportunity of a lifetime.

"If you have an open mind and just have fun and learn as much as you can, then it's easier to adjust," Barrett said. "I like new experiences so I just took everything as it was something new to try, but I knew I wouldn't be there forever so it didn't seem like a big change to me."

Barrett said she was apprehensive about living in a foreign country for a year, since she had never even been out of the country before, excluding a brief trip to Mexico. She said her parents were also conflicted on whether to let her go, but eventually gave in.

"The reasoning behind it is you will never again in your life be given the opportunity to do something like this," she said. "Yes it took me a year longer to graduate, but it also looks very good on my resume. It was by far the best experience I have had in my life yet."

Interested participants must be a U.S. citizen or have permanent residency, have a high school diploma or equivalent and an interest in new experiences.

For more information, visit www.CBYX.info .