We are proud of the many Honors graduates who are working around the state, country and even in other parts of the world. It is a pleasure to keep in touch with Honors alumni, so let us know what you are doing. We enjoy hearing from you and hope you will always carry with you some fond memories of the Honors Program at Illinois State University.
We want to hear from you! Please send us your Honors Alumni news or your advice to current Honors students. Just email us at honors@ilstu.edu. How can you STATE Your Honors experience?
As of August I will be traveling to Ulm, Germany and teaching in Neu-Ulm in the state
of Bavaria at the International School Ulm (Neu-Ulm), also known as ISU. I was excited to find out that I will be working at ISU (although a different one) and that my school colors will be red and white. The only difference is that Ulm is the city of Sparrows and not Redbirds.
I will be teaching a blended class of third and fourth grade, which will allow me to teach students that come from all over the world, as well as German nationals. I will be teaching in English but have been working hard to learn the German language.
Ever since I studied abroad as an undergraduate student at Illinois State, I have had the “travel bug.” Being able to study and live abroad allowed me to see part of the world and gain an appreciation for culture and international mindedness, leading me to view myself as an international citizen. The chance to get to travel again, this time for career purposes, is a chance of a lifetime.
Prior to taking this position abroad, I have been teaching third grade. I started my career in Normal then my third year teaching was with Rantoul City School District. I have maintained a very active role at Illinois State University serving on the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Through this I have been able to sit on networking committees, scholarship committees, and the executive committee. The Alumni Association is a great way to meet other Redbirds and stay involved with the University. Also, I am working toward completing a graduate degree within the College of Education in the area of Curriculum and Instruction.
I am thrilled to have the chance to teach in an international setting and Illinois State University has set me up for this success. I will be proud to be a Redbird gladly learning and teaching in Ulm, Germany!
Within two and a half months of graduating from ISU with my BS/MPA, I passed all four parts of the CPA exam. A week after taking the fourth part of the exam, my wife and I loaded up a moving truck and headed to California to begin my job as an Audit Associate working for PwC. The opportunity to work for PwC in San Jose arose from the last two summers interning in the Silicon Valley. My first internship in California was an opportunity because of connections with a successful ISU alumnus, who was the CEO of a software company at the time. During that first summer, I was able to network with an employee of PwC and completed my second internship with PwC the following summer. For a year and a half, I worked in our San Jose office serving Lifescience and Venture Capital clients.
While working in San Jose, I reached out to another successful ISU alumnus in the Peoria, IL PwC office expressing my interest in a transfer and I was able to secure a position in the Peoria office in December 2008. I continue to work in Peoria, primarily serving a large manufacturing client, having spent the last two years serving on the financing subsidiary financial statement audit.
There are times that I miss the weather and landscape that San Jose provided, but we enjoy being close to family now and the opportunity our young daughter born in late 2010, has to grow-up with her family nearby. If it were not for the alumni connections that I was able to foster at ISU, I'm sure my first four years in the professional world would have been very different. Networking with the alumni through opportunities in the Honors Program and College of Business helped provide me the professional experiences that I have enjoyed since graduating from ISU.
Three Honors Alumni were recently awarded Fulbright Scholarships for 2011-2012.
Kim
Karnatz, ’11, earned her bachelor’s degree in Middle level teacher
education. She will go to India for an English teaching assistantship
and also would like to research the use of yoga in school classrooms
and its effect on students’ self-control issues and physical and mental
well-being. Karnatz is a Golden Apple Scholar, which has provided her
with numerous teaching opportunities, including with the Chicago Public
Schools. She previously taught English and yoga to middle school
students in Tanzania.
Jessica Wozniak, ’11, recently earned her degree in English Publishing.
She will go to Montenegro for an English teaching assistantship. She
would like to organize a chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international
English Honors Society, for which she was co-president of the Illinois
State chapter, to encourage language exchange and networking
opportunities for her students. Wozniak was a Bone Scholar,
participated in a study abroad to Canterbury and two Alternative Winter
Break experiences to the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.
Jessica has been receiving helpful information from her Fulbright contacts and says, “I am extremely excited to spend a year in Montenegro, not only to teach English but also to form relationships with the Montenegrins and learn more about their culture. My contacts in Montenegro have been amazingly helpful and accommodating--they've answered my long list of questions and put me at ease about the upcoming year. I think it will be a truly incredible experience!”
Bill
Gugerty, ’06, MPA ’07, earned his CPA and worked in the accounting
field for two years before moving to a nonprofit organization, serving
on its Board of Directors as treasurer. Gugerty will travel to
Moldova, where he will perform case study and comparative research of
Moldovan microfinance institutions. He completed a master’s program in
international relations at Central European University in Budapest,
Hungary in June 2011. While at Illinois State, Gugerty completed a
study abroad to Germany and a Spanish language study in Spain.
"Researching microfinance institutions in Moldova will be a challenging and, no doubt, rewarding experience," Gugerty says. "I'm looking forward to learning a new language, experiencing a new culture, learning from others, and sharing what I learn with others. I think that's what Fulbright research is all about."
If you would like more information about the Fulbright Program and the 2012-2013 competition, please contact Becky Mentzer.
