All good things are three, is what the Germans say. And we now have three majors!!! Welcome our new German major on board!
Luke Westawker ‘20
Hallo! Ich heiße Luke und meine Hauptfächer sind Deutsch und Chemie!
I am a junior Chemistry and German major on a path to chemical engineering. My most unexpected plot twist at Carleton was that I fell in love with German. It’s oddly convenient, as Germany is the world leader in sustainable energy and a powerhouse in chemistry, so studying German has opened up many doors for me. German has even benefited my chemistry research at Carleton, as I can read cutting-edge research articles in the world-renowned journal, “Angewandte Chemie.”
My first-year fall, I took German 101 having never taken German before. Even though German did not come naturally to me, I was really intrigued by the language. Learning the grammar was like a puzzle where I could piece together the parts to convey complex concepts. The vocabulary is then really logical. Instead of English’s method of having completely different words for similar ideas, German has similar words for similar meanings.
My sophomore fall, I studied abroad in Berlin with the German OCS program, then over winter break I interned at a Berlin High School. I lived in a beautiful house with an amazing host family. We made meals together and have large Sunday brunches on their garden porch. The best part was that we were across the street from Tempelhofer Feld, a gigantic park in middle of Berlin that used to be the airport used for the Cold War Air-Lift. It is now a 955-acre park perfect for sports and picnics with miles of trails. I could play pick-up Fußball (soccer), or ride my Fahrrad (bike), or just go for a run, all followed by grabbing a delicious vegetarian Halloumi Kebap or Fallafel at the park’s Biergarten.
On campus, I am also an RA, a CANOE Trip Leader, Stevie P’s dog walker, a CSA Senator, a Whited Lab Chemistry researcher, and a Sprinter on the Track & Field team. My family in St. Paul consists of my two younger sisters, parents, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a German Exchange Student/Intern. I plan to return to Germany to work in a lab before continuing onto graduate school.
