Recent Liedloff Award Recipients
Nolan Chansophy
(South Elgin High School, Teacher: Joachim T. Schweickart)
Hallo! My name is Nolan Chansophy, and I am currently studying German at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I've always been interested in learning other languages, and German has been illuminating ever since I started studying it in high school. There is a certain beauty to learning another language, and seeing what the people have done with it as their mother tongue. I am blessed and fortunate to have been given this opportunity to continue studying a language with such virtue and aesthetic.
Vivian Hein
(Maine South High School, Teacher: Margaret Wolf)
Hi! My name is Vivian Hein, and I am currently studying German and Computer Science at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I started learning German from a young age, mainly due to the fact that my parents wanted me to be able to communicate with my relatives. I went to German school on Saturdays and continued studying German in high school where I participated in various German club activities! I am thankful that the Liedloff scholarship has given me an opportunity to continue my German studies at SIU. I also look forward to studying abroad in Germany sometime in my university years and learn even more about the German language and culture.
Jada Ashcraft
Hi! My name is Jada Ashcraft. I grew up in Spain in a bilingual household. I’ve always loved learning languages, and when I began high school in the United States I decided to try out German. I loved learning German in high school because my teacher made it so fun for us. Now that I’ve started studying German at SIU, I’ve been able to make many friends in German Club and my German class with many different interests. Along with German, I’m also majoring in Biomedical Engineering. I plan to improve the healthcare field with my Biomedical Engineering major in lower-income countries. My goal is to help as many people as I can by modernizing the healthcare field. I’m excited to use my German to expand my opportunities all across the world!
Audrey Ward
(Canton High School, Teacher: Kim Malone)
Hi! My name is Audrey Ward and I’m from Canton, Illinois. I am currently studying German and Education. German truly reignited my love for learning, and it was helped in no small part by my German teacher, Frau Malone. Frau Malone cares about her students and is passionate about fueling each students’ needs. She is the one who introduced me to the scholarship and then to SIU, where I am now attending. During my time here, I wish to learn as much as I can about the German language, culture, and history. German club at my high school was truly my place to be. That is where I made my strongest bonds and have my fondest memories. My hopes are to one day be like Frau Malone and inspire other students, to ignite that passion for learning and German.
Emily Hein
(Maine South High School, Teacher: Margaret Wolf)
Hello, my name is Emily Hein! I began taking German classes and was surrounded by the language when I was young but became more invested in these studies in my courses throughout high school where, with the help of my amazing teacher, we would learn about music, food, and much more! I was even given the opportunity to study abroad in Wiesbaden my freshman year, where my passion for learning continued to flourish. Currently I am studying Foreign Language and International Trade with a specialization in German, which I hope will provide me with opportunities in the future where I can live abroad and continue building my proficiency.
Kyle Loring
(Metamora Township High School, Instructor: Peter Bachfischer)
My name is Kyle Loring and I am currently studying German Education at Southern Illinois University. I was inspired to pursue this degree by my high school German instructor, Peter Bachfischer. Mr. Bachfischer was incredibly passionate about the German language and German culture, and his passion was reflected in his teaching. Over my four years with him in high school, I acquired his passion. During my stay at SIU, I intend to study abroad for a year to increase my proficiency in the German language. As a German teacher, I intend to follow in Mr. Bachfischer's footsteps and spread my passion for German to others.
Chelsea McGee
(Marshall Community High School, Instructor: Inge Jones)
Hi! My name is Chelsea McGee and my passion for German started growing in high school. I had a wonderful teacher who made me fall in love with the language, culture, and traditions. During my time at SIU, I plan on fueling this by studying abroad. I am majoring in German Education and want to teach High School German in the future.
Nathan Bailey
Hallo! My name is Nathan T. Bailey. I have been studying German now for four years and am very proud to be studying it alongside sociocultural anthropology at SIU. I am from Vienna, Illinois originally but have spent time living in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg in 2016. I really enjoyed my time in Ulm. It is the home city of Albert Einstein and home to the world’s tallest church—the Ulmer Münster! When I moved to Germany, I had no prior experience in German, so it was an incredibly terrifying experience at first. The students and faculty at the Poligenius Realschule in Ulm, however, were very accommodating and helpful in teaching me elementary German. After my study abroad, I completed high school remotely, thus I was mostly self taught until I began my studies here. German culture has been a huge part of my life, from the time I was four years old being read fairy tales by my grandmother all the way up to now. I hope I can eventually live some of my future years in Germanic Europe and I plan to study abroad in Salzburg, Austria during my time at SIU.
Rachel Bernier
(Lyons Township High School, Instructor: Shannon Murray)
My name is Rachel Bernier and had a great experience taking German my freshman-junior years of high school. Unfortunately, the school I moved to for my senior year of high school did not offer German, so I was unable to continue with the language. Once I discovered Southern Illinois University Carbondale offered German and Fermentation Sciences, I knew this was the school for me. I started at SIUC in the fall of 2020 and was able to jump into a 200 level German class right away. I remembered so much of the language that the class I was in seemed to have picked up where I left off in high school. Currently, I am going into my sophomore year at SIU with a double major. My primary major is LCIS with a specialization in German and my secondary major is Fermentation Sciences. I cannot wait to further my knowledge of the German culture and become fluent in a language I have always found pleasure in learning. I hope to be able to study abroad in Germany and experience the German culture first-hand as I test my language skills.
Yolina Lindquist
(Massac County High School, Instructor: Sue Bremer)
Hi! My name is Yolina Lindquist! I am a dual citizen of the United States and Switzerland. This is how I gained my passion for the German language. It has been a part of my life since birth! My mother`s side of the family speaks it and I long to communicate with them so I started genuinely studying german when I was a freshman in high school. I had the most wonderful experience and a wonderful teacher! I got involved with the German program at my high school through our german club, and cultural awareness clubs and through all the activities we do with it! I plan to major in Foreign Language and International trade with a focus in German! I hope in the future to work with international companies as a mutual advisor between the home country and the U.S.. My Dream would be to eventually work my way up to Ambassador between Switzerland and the United States.
Yara Hindi
(Carbondale Community High School, Instructor: Sharon Lorinskas and Alexandria Bassett)
Guten Tag! My name is Yara Hindi and I am from Carbondale Illinois. German has always been an interesting language to me. It has deep roots in many people's cultural history. High school ignited my interest to go through and learn this rich language. I took German for four years in high school and one year in college. I am excited to strengthen my knowledge and fluency in this language. I am majoring in Language, culture, and international studies with a focus in German along with my second major in political science. I believe German will help build a solid path for me to achieve my aspiration of becoming an international lawyer who is well immersed in more than two languages.
Maryn Ellis
(LaSalle Peru Township High School, Instructor: Christine Theisinger)
Hi! My name is Maryn Ellis and my passion for German started when I was a freshman in high school. I had the most wonderful experience and a wonderful teacher! I got involved with the German program at my high school because my older brother was also taking classes. I am majoring in Languages, Cultures, and International Studies with a specialization in German! I hope in the future to become a college professor.
Desire Henderson
(Massac County High School, Instructor: Sue Bremer)
Hello! My name is Desire Henderson, and my love for German grew when I attended German classes during all four years of high school. In turn, it opened a new world of passion for me. The specialty foods, the history of Germany, paintings, German music: all of it intrigues me, and I couldn't be happier. Learning German has given me the fondest of memories to look back to and has honestly made my life better. I look forward to using my German knowledge to help an even greater amount of people as I strive to become a psychiatrist in the future.
Caleb Lidisky
(O'Fallon Township High School, Instructor: Kathy Ashby)
My name is Caleb Lidisky and the door to my love of German opened with Call of Duty Nazi Zombies. I took German all 4 years in high school and instantly fell in love with the language. I am majoring in German and Foreign Language and International Trade. I hope to have a career in international business.
Heidi Oploh
Hello, my name is Heidi Oploh. I descend from a family of German immigrants, which is very important to me. I started learning German from my father at a young age. My family integrated German lessons into our daily lives. Throughout grade school and middle school, I took German classes through my home school curriculum. During high school, I studied abroad in Germany for two and a half months. As my German advanced, I was able to sit in on college-level courses. As I continued to take more advanced German courses, my passion for the German language grew. The language and culture is so interesting to me, which is why I decided to major in German and Finance. I plan to complete an internship in Germany and pursue a career in international business.
Ryan Buttrum
(John A. Logan College, instructor: Sharon Lorinskas)
My name is Ryan Buttrum, and I'm from Mt. Vernon, Illinois. As a kid, I learned that I have German ancestry. This sparked an ever growing interest in the German people, language, and culture. Over the years, it became a passion of mine and I began to read about German history and listen to German music regularly. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to take a German class until my senior year of high school. I discovered that I could take an evening class at the local community college, and jumped on the opportunity. I loved the class so much that it inspired me to pursue a career as a German teacher. I'm majoring in German Studies and plan to study abroad in Germany.
KC Hertter
(Carbondale Community High School and John A. Logan College, Instructor: Sharon Lorinskas)
Hello, my name is KC Jo Hertter. I am a junior at SIU. I am a transfer student from John A. Logan College. I was raised in Carbondale and graduated from Carbondale Community High School. I am double majoring in foreign language and international trade and German. I decided to pursue German after my study abroad year in Germany. After spending a year there, I fell in love with the language and culture. Another reason why I pursued German is because I think it is important to show an interest in the world around us.
Payton Morris
(Illinois Valley Central High School, instructor Andrea Bredeman)
My name is Payton Morris, and ever since I can remember, I have always had a passion for seeing the world. Some children watched cartoons, I turned on the Travel Channel or Food Network. To me, there’s always something more to see in this world. I took German all throughout high-school and was given the opportunity to travel to Germany for a month. These experiences changed my life. There was no question about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Without the support of my German instructor or my family, I would have never dreamed of being awarded the Liedloff Scholarship at SIUC. Now that I’ve been given this opportunity, I plan to major in German Education. I want to be able to provide the same opportunities that I was lucky enough to experience, to the future students of the world. I also plan to study abroad so I can return to Germany. When I’m not speaking German, I love to cook, read novels, and sing.
Tessa Hudgeons
(Springfield Southeast High School, instructor Vicki Oldani)
My name is Tessa Hudgeons, and I’m from Springfield, IL. I became involved with German during middle school, when my older sister would take me along to German club events. In high school I decided to take the class for all four years. During my last two years at SSHS I developed a growing fascination with literature, sociology, as well as theology and philosophy. The experience of another language and culture opened up a whole other world for me. In the future I hope to learn other languages to expand my studies. Currently I am majoring in German. I’m most grateful for all of my teachers along the way, who not only helped me earn this scholarship but also taught me to remain curious and engaged.
Sierra Priebe
(Olympia High School, instructor Rebecca Meissner)
I’m from a small town in central Illinois called Danvers. I originally signed up for German just because I needed foreign language credits to graduate and German sparked my interest more than Spanish. Once I started learning it something clicked and I fell in love with the language. German quickly became my favorite class because I was and still am fascinated by the way the language is structured and the culture. I am majoring in German as well as Accounting and would like to work for a German company or with international trade someday. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to visit a German speaking country yet, but I do plan to in the near future. I am still not very familiar with the Carbondale area, so in my free time I like to go out and explore the local state parks and small towns.
Carly Kasicki
(Guilford High School, instructor: Darryl Mertz)
As a student at SIU, I am engaged in the honors program and Saluki Ambassadors. As an avid rock climber and world traveler, I look forward to travelling abroad to Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. I study Foreign Language International trade with concentrations in German and French, pre-law, and a minor in criminology.
Abbygail Meyer
(Lanphier High School, instructor: Joachim T. Schweickart)
My name's Abbygail Meyer, I'm from Springfield, IL. I studied German all four years of high school, I fell in love with it and decided I wanted to continue my German education in College. I heard about the Mary Liedloff scholarship and applied for it and the rest is history. I love SIUC and the whole German department. I am planning to major in German and Special Education. I plan to study abroad in Germany and travel there whenever possible.
Audra Reidner
(Princeton High School, instructor: Candice Fetzer)
I grew up in the small town of Princeton, Illinois. As I entered into a small town high school, my choices for learning a new language were German or Spanish, and everyone I knew took Spanish as an elective. I wanted to take a different path, and so I chose German. I graduated high school with four years of German experience. Before starting the 2016-2017 school year down here, as a freshman, at Southern Illinois University, I had the chance to go overseas to Germany and Austria. While it was not for study abroad, I got to experience the very language and culture I have learned about. In my free time, I love to adventure outside and see what nature has to offer: kayaking, hiking, and fishing. I also love to get out on the golf course and play a couple of rounds when I have time.
Damien M. Berube
(Olympia High School, instructor: Rebecca Meissner)
Emma Lasley
(Lanphier High School, instructor: Joachim T. Schweickart)
My name is Emma Lasley, I'm from Springfield, Illinois and I attended Lanphier High School. I am a German Major (duh) but I'm also double majoring with Music Education with a minor in American Sign Language. I started learning German in high school because I read a pamphlet in middle school about how cool German was. I didn't want to take Spanish because I knew it would be super full and everybody would take it. In the end, I decided to take German rather than French because pretty much all of my friends also decided to take German. After a couple years in high school, I found out that I was actually pretty good at it and I really enjoyed taking it, so I stuck with it for the rest of high school. This gave me the opportunity to go abroad to Markleeberg (a small town very close to Leipzig) for three weeks with my high school German teacher and several other students from throughout the country. I made so many friends over those three weeks and I learned so much about German, not just the language but also the culture. I fell in love with it and I knew that German was something that I loved and I never wanted to give up. I have a very packed schedule so I don't have very much "free time," but I enjoy pretty much every moment of what I do, so I don't mind doing what I have to to achieve my goals.
Rachel R. Radtke
(Cary Grove Community High School, instructor: Ulrike Kieffaber)
My name is Rachel Radtke. I grew up in Wyoming, but somehow ended up in the tiny Chicago suburb of Cary, Illinois where I graduated from Cary Grove Community High School. I got into German mostly by accident. 11 year old me had the opportunity to do whatever Rosetta Stone language of her choosing. I chose German and fell in love. I have yet to go to Germany, but I would like to visit within the next year. In my free time I love to explore the state parks around the area—Garden of the Gods is a favorite.
Nicole Knoles
(Lanphier High School, instructor: Joachim T. Schweickart)
By receiving the Helmut and Mary Liedloff scholarship I was able to continue studying German, as well as other fields of interest in which I chose to also study Theoretical Linguistics and International Studies. I am from Springfield, Illinois and graduated in 2014 from Lanphier High school. I began learning German because I had a strong interest in languages that most people did not commonly learn outside of French and Spanish. The class was also offered in full immersion, whereas the other language courses at my high school were not. Immersion is a method that I believe works really well when learning a new language so it sparked my interest in the language even more. Though I have not studied abroad yet, I do have plans to study or work abroad in the future. In my down time I enjoy reading books, watching movies, being in nature, exploring new places and spending time with family and friends. In short, I highly value education and believe that this scholarship gave me great opportunities to excel in and outside of the German department.
Phaedra Norell
(Centennial High School, instructor: Mary Malloy)
I began studying German in high school because I had an interest in German culture and the language itself. My high school experience fostered curiosity and encouraged development of language and speaking skill, and this passion led to my application for the Liedloff Scholarship. The Liedloff Scholarship has allowed me to continue my German education at a higher level, and the faculty and staff at SIU have continued to encourage my curiosity and love of the German language. I hope to use my German education in the future to work in a German company, or in cooperation with a German company in order to study neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases and their effects in populations around the world.
Eli X. Scherer
(Carbondale High School, instructor: Sharon Lorinskas)
My name is Eli X. Scherer and I grew up and went to high school in Anna-Jonesboro Illinois-a small town just 30 minutes south of Carbondale. Being from a small town always made me want to see more of the world, so in 2011-2012 I set off for one year to be a Rotary Youth Exchange Student in Germany. I had never taken German courses, so I had to adapt quickly once I got there. Luckily, total immersion is the best way to learn a language an I was able to learn it fluently in one year. Now, 5 years later, I am a Liedloff Scholar and will soon have my Bachelor's degree in German at SIU. Being a Liedloff Scholar not only helped me financially, but it also allowed me the opportunity to study abroad again, this time in Zurich Switzerland. The experiences I have gained while traveling have taught me much more than I have ever learned in a classroom, and opened up doors to me which I never knew existed. I am very grateful to have had the o to study abroad once again through the SIU, and urge other students who receive the Liedloff Scholarship to do the same!