Das Stipendium von acht unserer Schülerinnen und Schüler im Access-Programm, finanziert von der amerikanischen Botschaft und durchgeführt vom D.A.I. Tübingen ging zu Ende. Auch der Förderverein der Wilhelm-Schickard-Schule unterstützte die USA-Reise der Schülerinnen und Schüler. Hier lesen Sie die Dankes- und Abschiedsworte der Sprecherin der Stipendiatengruppe:
I remember how I was sitting in front of Rob and Ute, a little bit nervous and trying to be as confident as I could be. I answered all their questions and later found out I was lucky enough to get into the Access Program, with 13 other talented people. At the beginning we all had our fears, hopes and wishes.
Over the past two years we gained confidence and improved not only our English skills we also improved our social skills. From lesson to lesson from week to week we got better with both. I can certainly notice how much my skills have developed over the last two years.
We not only learned things from Rob and the other teachers, but we also learned new skills and improved the ones we had from my amazing friends in the Access group. We were always willing to help each other.
I want to tell you how the others influenced me positively. For example, Thea taught me to be passionate about what I do, from Denis I learned technical skills. Ceren, Ayse, Fadime and Gizem shared with me their culture and their traditional dances. Leonie, Lena and Ann-Kathrin, our three musketeers, I learned how to invest my time effectively. For example, when I had a tight schedule I would do my Access homework while I was in English class. – thus killing two birds with one stone. Lilo showed me how to set up a tent and from Bako I learned a lot about cars even though I didn’t ask him. Last but not least, I learned from Vici and Haneen how to be positive.
The Access Program was a great opportunity for all of us. We are all very thankful that we got the chance to be part of this great experience called the Access Program.
The program was not just about going every Friday afternoon to learn English it was much more than that. We had weekend workshops, we attended awesome camps.
At the camp in Benedikt-Beuern in Bavaria, we danced a lot, discovered the importance of teamwork, and learned academic skills such as writing motivational letters.
In another camp in Berlin, the capital of Germany, we were taught skills on how to set and successfully reach our goals. We spent many hours improving our writing skills in preparation for the upcoming English Abitur.
Those two camps along with the Access Program were paid for by the the American people through the American Embassy. For this we will be forever grateful.
I must mention one other camp. Our biggest wish was to go once in our lifetime to America. This we accomplished through the financial help of the DAI and wonderful donors who believed in us and contributed money so we could make this dream come true.
I know for me and I can speak for the whole group, it was the best trip in our lives.
During this trip we learned about different aspects of American culture. We visited red state rodeos and blue state cities. We met a lot of wonderful Americans during this trip. We found out that even Trump voters were nice people too. And for us this was a very important point to learn.
We are sure that without this program we would not have had such a positive attitude towards America and its people, particularly in light of today’s political situation.
To be honest we are a little bit sad that we were the first and the last Access Group here in Germany, it’s too bad that other young Germans will not have this opportunity to experience America the way we have been able to.
Speech from the 14th of December 2017 by Marina Banti