NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. — Colleen McCleish, a University of Oklahoma May 2024 graduate of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, has been selected as one of 75 Americans to study and work in Germany as part of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals program.
The cohort departs for Germany on July 26 and returns to the U.S. in June 2025. McCleish will attend a two-month intensive language course in Cologne, before completing a three-to-five-month internship through a German company. McCleish will attend classes during the winter semester at a German university of the program’s choosing.
Around 500 applicants vied for one of the 75 spots. The program is described by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as “a crucial thread in the people-to-people ties between the United States and Germany.”
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to participate in CBYX,” said McCleish. “The program is a pivotal opportunity to expand my horizons personally and professionally.”
This will be McCleish’s second stint in Germany. She spent seven months in 2023 at the University of Hamburg’s Meteorological Institute through the OU School of Meteorology’s exchange program. McCleish also completed four years of German language and culture courses and participated in OU German Club activities.
“My experiences through OU gave me a strong knowledge base on the German language and culture, which should ease my transition moving back to Germany,” added McCleish.
Each of the 75 Americans will be placed with a host family, an experience McCleish is excited about. She is set to live in Cologne for the first two months of the program before moving to a new location. The program aims to establish the 75 recent graduates as citizen ambassadors from the United States through networking, language instruction and immersing them into a new culture.
As she embarks on this new opportunity, McCleish wishes to angle her future career into environmental sustainability. She says this experience will help her gain insights into how sustainability is integrated at international, national and regional government levels while learning how it influences the daily levels of German citizens. Afterward, she plans to pursue a master’s degree.
“I hope to bring these insights back to the United States to improve our approach to environmental challenges,” McCleish said.
The CBYX, entering its forty-first year, is a program administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs through non-profit implementing partners such as Cultural Vistas.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. OU was named the state’s highest-ranking university in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent Best Colleges list. For more information about the university, visit ou.edu.
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