By Jason Curtin ’98
Vice President, Advancement & Alumni Engagement | Executive Director, SU Foundation, Inc.
(Pictured above – from left – Nils Vortman M’09, Curtin and political science faculty Dr. Sarah Surak on a walking tour of Vortman’s neighborhood in Berlin. )
When I was about 5 or 6 years old, I can remember my grandmother speaking to my great-grandmother in a different language that was not English. I found that very curious and quickly discovered that my great-grandmother was German and had immigrated to the United States during her childhood. I learned from my grandmother how to sing “Stille Nacht” (Silent Night) around the holidays and enjoyed every bit of her wurst and sauerkraut and occasional strudel.
Fast forward over 40 years later, and on a whim, I applied for a Fulbright in Germany and was accepted! Salisbury University is well known on the higher education map as a top producer of Fulbright’s – mainly our amazing students and faculty. I was fortunate enough to be awarded a U.S-Germany International Educators Administrators Program to visit Germany with 16 other U.S. administrators from colleges and universities across the country. For two weeks, we exchanged higher education ideas, values and best practices with members of German Universities from Berlin, Hanover, Greifswald and Dortmund.
A colleague who had been awarded a Fulbright many years ago forewarned me, “it’s going to be awesome, but they’ll run you ragged, make sure you are ready!” – and he was right. Each day was chocked full of seminars, guest speakers, site visits, peer exchanges, tours, etc. But I loved every minute of it. I found both the German school-aged education system fascinating and the “Universität” system vastly different but also similar to U.S. colleges in many ways. Our group even spent an afternoon with a member of the German Bundestag (Parliament) discussing Trans-Atlantic Higher Education Relations.
The one day that absolutely had me putting in the steps on my Fitbit (26,711 to be exact) was my only “free” Saturday. Other colleagues in the program were visiting museums and historical sites in Berlin or taking the train out to Potsdam, but I wanted to connect with SU people in the area. I had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Sarah Surak, SU political science associate professor, at the Berlin train station where she had come in from Hamburg. From there, she and I bused over to a morning farmer’s market where we met with alumna Martha Matz ’86. Martha was kind enough to show us her neighborhood. Martha works at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin and has been living in Berlin for over 30 years! But, she keeps up with SU and loved her time here. She even showed off SU items in her apartment, and her Maryland pride came out with her tins of Old Bay for cooking!
From there, we took the U-Bahn (subway) to the Friedrichshain- Kreuzberg district where Sarah and I met Nils Vortman M’09. Nils is a native German who got his M.B.A. from SU and then returned to his native Germany. He took us on a walking tour of his neighborhood, which was a fascinating combination of both remnants of East Germany and then the modernization of capitalism influence. Nils’ wife and amazingly cute 18-monthold daughter met us afterward at a local park. Niles assures me that he’s bringing his wife back to Salisbury one day for a campus visit and a trek down to Seacrets. How could he not?
One of my goals from this experience is that I can help leverage contacts with German universities and our own international education efforts on study abroad opportunities for our students. I thank Dr. Brian Stiegler, assistant provost for international education, and President Lepre for their support of my application and participation in the Fulbright program, especially being gone the two weeks leading up to Homecoming! Leveraging relationships between the U.S. and German institutions of higher education is the main purpose of the Fulbright Germany Kommission.
I always tell current students that one of the biggest regrets of my own undergraduate experience at Salisbury University (then SSU!) was not having done a study abroad program. I think the ability to get out of your comfort zone, travel to a foreign country, and immerse yourself into their culture, language, food and activities provides growth as an individual. We live in a big world and are all connected with each passing day. I’m proud of the space SU continues to be in on a national and international stage and was happy to play a small role in it all. There are Sea Gulls everywhere across the globe!
I always tell current students that one of the biggest regrets of my own undergraduate experience at Salisbury University (then SSU!) was not having done a study abroad program.”
– Jason Curtin
Curtin with members of his Fulbright cohort