For those of you who don’t know I went to a private parochial school until 8th grade. St. Paul Lutheran’s graduating class of 1998 had only nine people. Two years of preschool, one year of kindergarten, and eight years of private education gave me a significant leg up in public high school. It was painfully obvious among my peers that I had not gone to public school. Those 11 years of private education set me apart and I’m sure my parents are more than happy with their investment. Private education does not come cheap, but its gains are exponential. It came as a bit of a shock when I began to achieve in the 3.4 – 4.0 GPA range in college when all during high school I had a persistent 2.3 GPA. I now appreciate the sacrifices made by my parents as I am preparing to become a public school teacher. But education is not all about reading, writing, and arithmetic as an essential portion comes from interacting with the world around you. It is time for me to put my German education into practice this coming March until August.
In Germany I plan to absorb as much of the country, its people, and its culture as possible. It is my intention to update my site as often as I can. I want to chronicle my experiences along the way. I assure you that many will involve my adjusting to German customs and embarrassing situations I got into. Along the way I plan on taking hundreds of photos and posting them to my flickr.com account. But in order for these experiences to occur I require funding. Thusly it is with reservation that I request a small donation from you.
My current financial situation is as follows. I have paid for tuition and have money set aside for airfare housing, food, and insurance. The $1000 grant from the Wisconsin government has been allotted to the payment of these things. My parents have set aside an account to help pay for other items I will need. I have been working 3rd shift at Festival Foods in Oshkosh to try to scrounge up funding for my trip. Currently I am scheduled for only 24 hours/week, but Festival has been cutting my hours. The week of January 15 – 21 I am only scheduled for 16 hours and those shifts are guaranteed to be cut short. Rent alone for February will be approximately $400, not to mention food and other costs. Any additional savings earned for my trip will not last very long.
The cost of an education is not just tuition. It includes all of the minor payments along the way. What does a small donation afford? It gives me the chance to eat a government-subsidized meal in “Mensa” with other German students. I can send a letter to my girlfriend that contains a German chocolate bar to help stem her feelings of being alone, even if only for a minute. I can travel via the Intercontinental Express to Berlin, Vienna, and Frankfurt to absorb all of the museums. I can grab my backpack and venture to the Dachau concentration camp and pay homage to the fallen. I can purchase daily necessities such as razors, shampoo, and most importantly, soap. I can venture to the Eckkneipe and order an Oktoberfest Spaten Bier with my German friends. It gives me enough scratch to purchase coffee at 3am as I translate a load of homework as a full-time student. In going about all of these activities I will experience firsthand what some textbooks only describe. I will learn the language necessary to function and in doing so improve my future prospects of being a German teacher.
Your small donation can be received directly through PayPal. PayPal is the internet’s most secure method of sending money. I have been using it to handle all of my eBay buying and selling transactions. In the five years of using it I have never had a problem where the security of my credit card or checking account has been compromised. All you need to do is click the PayPal link below to begin. Once you make a donation an e-mail notification will be sent to me. You don’t even have to sign up for PayPal. It is just that easy… and thank you.
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