German
Irene Rhine '08
Majors: German and International Relations
I.S. Title: Germany's Perceptions of Turkish Accession to the European Union
Occupation: Peace Corps Volunteer in Azerbaijan
Irene Rhine is currently a Peace Corps Volunteer in Azerbaijan. She swore in as a volunteer in December of 2009 and will complete her two year service in December of 2011. Irene is teaching English in a school in Sheki and in her free time she conducts community projects from English conversation clubs to summer camps to German classes. Additionally, Irene conducts trainings and weekly classes at the local branch of AzETA (Azerbaijan English Teachers' Association). In Sheki Irene lives with a host family and is learning the Azeri language and customs from them.
Before teaching English in Azerbaijan Irene taught English in Germany with the Fulbright scholarship. There she taught English in the Karl-Rehbein Gymnasium in Hanau and in her free time after teaching took classes in the International Relations Masters Program at Frankfurt University.
The German Major at the College of Wooster was invaluable to Irene for her experience in Frankfurt with Fulbright. The knowledge of the German language and culture allowed her to integrate into the school where she taught and with the students at the university. Her German major also allowed her to understand better second language acquisition. This skill assisted her teaching English as a Foreign Language in Germany and in Azerbaijan with Peace Corps.
Irene is currently looking at German graduate programs in the U.S.