Megan McConnell

Megan McConnell, a sophomore majoring in Political Science at Penn State Behrend, has won a fully-funded Cultural Vista Fellowship to complete a two-month internship in Berlin this summer. The fellowship also covers an orientation in New York City, airfare, housing, internship placement, and transportation.

Cultural Vista Fellowships offer U.S. college students the opportunity to advance their career goals, develop global competencies, and experience life in another culture.

“Cultural Vista Fellowship is a classic example of engaged scholarship affording students with a hands-on international two-months internship experience, in this case in Berlin, Germany, immersing Megan in German language and culture, and giving her the opportunity to gain solid real world experience by interning with a German employer,” said Dr. Eva Kuttenberg, associate professor of German. “I am humbled by Megan’s drive and commitment.”

McConnell, who is minoring in German and History, is one of just four national recipients of the fellowship.

“I think my strong background in German language and ability to adapt to diverse situations played a big part in why I was selected,” McConnell said. “My comfort interacting with people from all walks of life also helped make me a viable candidate.”

McConnell will attend orientation in New York City at the end of May before departing for Berlin on June 1. While she is there, she’ll be working as an intern with a political organization.

“I’m looking forward to gaining invaluable insight into the German political system and ideologies,”McConnell said. “I plan on pursuing a career in politics and diplomacy, so this experience will help me interact with the country in a diplomatic sense later.”

McConnell is the third winner of a fully-funded fellowship from Penn State Behrend. Last year, History major Olivia Duryea won a Teaching Assistants fellowship and spent nine months in Bad Hofgastein, Austria, assisting with English classes. In 2009, Physics and Science major Nicole Gall won a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Research Internship in Science and Engineering Fellowship and spent three months working in a physics lab at the University of Tuebingen, Germany.