“Students should explore their interests and study the things they enjoy rather than what is considered marketable. If they are truly passionate about a topic, they will find a way to make it work out.”
Shaydon Ramey not only found a way to pursue his interests, but he recently joined the ranks of Wittenberg scholars who have received prestigious Fulbright awards.
Hailing from Stoutsville, Ohio, the triple major in German, French, and Spanish and triple minor in international studies, political science, and RCEP (Russian and Central Eurasian Program) will teach English in the Saxony-Anhalt region of Germany next year.
“After this, I will be moving on to graduate school in the hopes of obtaining a Ph.D. in German and becoming a college professor, inspired, of course, by the great professors I have had at Wittenberg,” he explained, citing such professors as Associate Professor Dave Barry, Associate Professor Tim Bennett, Associate Professor Tim Wilkerson, and former Assistant Professor Fernando Blanco.
“I came to Wittenberg knowing I wanted to study two languages—at that point German and Spanish—and to have RCEP and international studies as complementary skills, but then later decided to add French, which I had taken in high school, and I enjoyed my political science classes, so I added that minor,” Ramey said.
During his four years, Ramey not only worked on campus as a Spanish, French, and German tutor, but he contributed to two OLAC conferences, and organized the university’s Spanish Club for the past three years, in addition to studying abroad in Chile and Argentina; Chicoutimi, Québec; and Salzburg, Austria.
“Shaydon is an absolutely brilliant individual who truly lives and promotes the values of the liberal arts and the mission of this institution,” Wilkerson said.
Ramey’s advice to future students: pursue what you’re passionate about.
“Future students should explore their interests and study the things they enjoy rather than what is considered marketable. If they are truly passionate about a topic, they will find a way to make it work out.”
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program of the United States in which participants serve as cultural ambassadors. Ramey will join over 100,000 Fulbright U.S. Student Program alumni who have undertaken grants since the program began in 1948.
