Claremont, Calif. (September 7, 2016)—Pitzer College student Jacqueline Composanto ’17 has been selected by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as one of its 2016 Young Ambassadors. The DAAD Young Ambassadors Program chooses outstanding undergraduates from across North America who have studied or interned in Germany as liaisons who promote study and research in the central-western European country at their home institutions.
Composanto spent spring 2016 at the University of Giessen in western central Germany through one of Pitzer’s International Student Exchange Programs. This summer, she and other DAAD young ambassadors participated in a four-day seminar in New York City, where they learned more about German higher education, DAAD programs and effective intercultural communications.
As a DAAD young ambassador, Composanto will draw on lessons from the seminar and her own experiences studying abroad in Germany. She plans to talk with students across The Claremont Colleges about living in a country steeped in history and filled with modern cities, medieval castles, leafy forests and a transportation system that makes most of Europe a train ride away. Most of all, she says she will encourage her classmates to break out of their routine and break out their passports.
“It’s a unique experience to live abroad,” Composanto said. “The opportunity doesn’t come along all that often for most people—you have to jump at the chance.”
Majoring in history with a German minor at Pitzer College, Composanto has served on the College’s Student Senate and its Teaching and Learning Committee. After graduating this spring, she plans to work with nonprofits, focusing on either women’s rights or refugee advocacy.
Pitzer College Office of Study Abroad and International Programs nominated Composanto for the DAAD’s Young Ambassador Program. Kebokile Dengu-Zvobgo, associate dean for study abroad and international programs, describes Composanto as an ideal ambassador for studying abroad.
“She is a true global citizen who has an infectious intellectual curiosity in all things global,” Dengu-Zvobgo said.
The German Academic Exchange Service is a publicly funded independent organization of higher education institutions in Germany. Each year DAAD provides information and financial support to more than 120,000 highly qualified students and faculty for international research and study.
