CURRENT ALUMNUS OF THE MONTH - JANUARY 2011

Name:
Matt Zuvela

AIB Program:
New Europe Program Fall 2004 & Spring 2005

Current Job Position:
Radio and Online News Reporter at Deutsche Welle

 

About studying abroad:
It must be the Kölsch that has kept me coming back to Germany over the past five years. Apparently, it's quite influential, because I've lived here twice since my two semesters of study abroad as a junior at LMU. The first time I came back was to teach English at a high school in Bonn as a Fulbright scholar. After that, I moved back to my native Washington state and tried to find a job. The recession threw that plan out the window, so I decided to look for another chance to come back to Germany. Luckily, the Deutsche Welle right here in Bonn had a position available. I cover German and European news for online and radio. I work for the English language service, and our radio broadcasts are heard around the world.

One of the coolest parts about my job is that I get to travel on occasion. Recently I did a story on soccer fans up in a town called Gelsenkirchen (tons of fun - went to a match with some of the biggest die-hards I've ever met). Last summer I was sent to cover the Track and Field Championships in Berlin, which is an ideal assignment for a runner geek like me. As a student at the AIB, I went on some fantastic trips, too. Hiking and biking in Interlaken was great, as was snowboarding with my host family in the French Alps. I've developed a tradition of seeking out the local beer in the places I visit and giving it a thourough tasting. I try not to let the beer-snobbery get out of hand, though - I went back to the states recently on vacation and I'm not at all ashamed to say the first beer I had was a PBR out of a can.
 
It's safe to say that without the AIB, I would not have the job I have today. During my two semesters of study abroad, I quickly became accustomed to life in Germany and I feel very comfortable living in Bonn. My German lessons at the AIB were essential; part of my job now is translating German news stories into English. I ran my first marathon in Bonn, my second in Cologne, and my third will be back in Bonn in April 2010. I met my best German friends through the AIB (and have lived in two great apartments as a result). I even got set up in my last relationship through the AIB dating service!

I'm most grateful to the AIB for cracking open the door to a life I never would have thought possible for myself. Before coming to Bonn for the first time, I had never met anyone who had just packed up and moved to Europe - I mean, who REALLY does such a thing? But at the AIB, I got a little taste of what that life might be like, and I realized  that taking the full plunge and making a living abroad wasn't such a far fetched idea after all.

I'm not sure how long this Euro experiment of mine will last, but for the time being, I'm happy with my job and the things I've got going for myself in Germany. I think I'll end up back in the States someday, but that Kölsch has a strange ability to make people stay... Auf wiedersehen!
 
Matt Zuvela,
LMU Class of 2006