Tim Sensenig ’15, Christina McIntyre ’16 awarded prestigious honors
Two alumni recently received Fulbright honors. Former Messiah College Student Body President Tim Sensenig ’15, who majored in German and English with a secondary teaching certification, was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to complete an English teaching assistantship (ETA) abroad. Sensenig will be teaching English as a second language to students in Hamburg, Germany.
“A Fulbright Fellowship is a prestigious opportunity,” said Sensenig. “It is humbling to have been selected as a representative for my nation. I am looking forward to teaching English abroad but, even more so, to the many lessons that the people of Germany will undoubtedly teach me in return. I am thankful for all the friends, family and advisors who continue to encourage me throughout this process.”
In his statement of purpose, Sensenig details why he wanted to return to Germany:
Since the eighth grade, when I first enrolled in German language classes, I have come to love all things German: the profundity of Wagner, Dürer, Goethe, Kafka and Brecht; the drama of Reunification; the dazzling topography of the Alps. But during my summer tenure as an assistant teacher in Bavaria, that fascination bloomed into a new cosmopolitanism. I celebrated the neighborhood Sonnwendfeuer on the summer solstice, wandered the mind of Ludwig II at Herrenchiemsee and Neuschwanstein, and attended mass in gothic cathedrals. Comparing these unfamiliar experiences with my American traditions revealed the richness of human life.
Christina McIntyre ’16, a politics and sustainability studies major with a concentration in community and urban development, was awarded a Fulbright research scholarship to Canada for 2016-17. McIntyre will be pursuing an M.A. in political science at the University of Toronto, writing a thesis on comparative low-income housing policy in Canada and the U.S.
In an excerpt of her personal statement for the grant, McIntyre wrote of how she honed her passion for affordable housing:
It was only during my first year of college that I discovered cities—thriving, diverse ecosystems of people from all walks of life. The cultural richness, economic vitality and social dynamism fascinated me. But the crushing reality of urban poverty that I witnessed in Harrisburg’s South Allison Hill neighborhood broke my heart. As I tended street gardens, tutored children, scrubbed soup kitchen floors and shared meals with the homeless in a place where almost 40% of the residents are in poverty, I came to know the desperation of a community.
“I’m honored to receive a Fulbright,” said McIntyre. “Adequate and affordable housing is a fundamental human need, and low-income housing policy has great potential to improve access to opportunity and quality of life. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve as a citizen diplomat in Toronto and study urban policies that affect vulnerable communities in both Canada and the U.S.”
— My Nguyen ’17