Miriam Plane Receives Fulbright ETA in Germany

Miriam Plane, a sociology major and Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies Program (GSFS) minor, has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Germany. Plane will live and work in Berlin from September 2017 until June 2018.

Plane says that the Fulbright program was always on her radar, as her mother is the fellowships advisor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In addition to studying in Denmark during her junior year at Oberlin, Plane spent a semester of high school as an exchange student in Germany and has taught German to American students through a summer program in Minnesota. Considering her experiences at home and abroad, the English Teaching Assistantship seemed like a natural fit.

Plane, a native of Madison, Wisconsin, said the process of applying for the Fulbright was intensive but highly encourages those who are interested to apply.

“Most of the application process is just writing and rewriting the two essays they have you write until you and the fellowships advisor are happy with it,” she says. “I think I went through about three drafts of each before the final product, which is more drafts than I ever wrote for a college paper, but totally worth it.”

During her senior year at Oberlin, Plane completed a sociology research project on the education system in Germany, examining the inequalities that exist within the system. “It’ll be really interesting to see this system in motion next year,” she says. She also spent the past winter term at Carnegie Mellon University, conducting research on linguistic barriers for students in American elementary schools whose home dialect is African American Vernacular English (AAVE).

Plane hopes to someday work for a reproductive justice nonprofit and is considering eventually pursuing a master’s degree in public health.