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Printer-Friendly ModeOn the Job with Swenja Granzow
German native finds home with Writing Center job
January 31, 2005 —
A list of Swenja Granzow's achievements and activities would be almost as long as the trip from Hamburg, Germany to SVSU. The 21-year-old Political Science major and Hamburg native says staying involved and keeping busy helps ail a home sickness that can develop as a result from going to school 4,000 miles away from home.
Granzow, who recently became president of the National Modern Foreign Language Honor Society, Alpha Mu Gamma, is more than content with her decision to come to SVSU. As a High School exchange student in Covina, CA, Granzow fell in love with the United States and decided to pursuit her higher education in the U.S.
"I wanted a small school with a good political science program. I found out about Saginaw Valley from the beautiful world wide web."
Once enrolled at SVSU, Granzow was immediately impressed with the area.
"I liked Saginaw from the moment I got here. People were extremely outgoing and friendly and very interested in people of other cultures."
It was the friendly and outgoing people that helped make the transition for Granzow that much easier and helped encourage her to get involved. Along with being President of Alpha Mu Gamma, Granzow is also a Writing Center mentor, an English Corner coordinator and a research assistant for Dr. Frank Dane.
No matter where you're from, Granzow says the key to getting involved is to find an activity that you are passionate about.
"Working at the writing center has been one of the best experiences I've had. I get to combine two of the things I'm most passionate about: working with people and writing."
Since Granzow does miss her friends and family back in Hamburg, she makes it a necessity to return to Germany at least twice a year. Once back home, she has a greater appreciation for a big city. Granzow says she misses the closeness in terms of proximity that Hamburg provides. Yet, while in Hamburg, she misses the closeness of the community that Saginaw has offered her the last three years.
With her degree in Political Science and minors in French and Criminal Justice, Granzow can almost hand pick what happens after her May 2006 graduation. As of now, her plans are to pursue an internship before heading to graduate school. Her ultimate goal is to teach at a collegiate level.
No matter what the future holds, it is clear that her experiences and achievements will breed even greater success in the future; whether they occur in Hamburg, Saginaw or anywhere in between.