“I just thought it was an interesting part of the country,” said the German studies and history double major who spent a term in Germany last year. “They still have these big, ugly, square buildings that went up during communism.”
Schaeffer , who won the Fulbright, expects to be a teaching assistant in an English class at a German high school. But he's waiting to hear where he will spend 10 months starting in September.
Schaeffer got the idea to pursue a Fulbright from Prof. Jill Smith of modern languages, who was a Fulbright in Germany. He was assisted throughout the application by Maggie Tongue, director of postgraduate fellowships.
At Union, he was a member of the cross country and track teams, a dean's list student and member of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society. He did his history thesis on the rise of the religious right in conservative politics with Prof. David Baum. He did a senior writing project in German studies on literary representations of resistance to the Holocaust.
A native of Austinburg, Ohio, Schaeffer is the son of Don and Evelyn Schaeffer. He visited his brother, Don '02, while he was at Union and enrolled the fall after Don graduated. His brother is working with an insurance company in Stockholm, Sweden, and the two are planning to tour Europe after Andrew arrives in Germany.
The College had several winners under the Fulbright Hayes program in the 70's and 80's, including Rebecca Koopmann '89, now assistant professor of physics and astronomy. Recent winners have included Maureen Farrell '02 in 2002 and Jeffrey Nebolini '96 in 2004.
The Fulbright Program, named for the late Sen. J. William Fulbright, supports the exchange of education, culture and science with more than 140 countries. It is funded through an annual appropriation by Congress to the Department of State.