Living The Dream: Local Student Scholar Hopes Overseas Teaching Assignment Leads to Career

For one local young man, the German dream has begun.

Fulbright Scholar Zachary Grotovksy, 23, of Mokena leaves the end of August to spend a year in Germany helping to teach German students English.

It’s the first step toward Grotovksy career goal, teaching German at the high school or university level.

“This is a great opportunity for me,” Grotovsky said. “My friends who are applying for jobs are hearing, ‘You need two years experience.’ Well, here is my first year."

Grotovsky, graduate of Lincoln-Way East High School, .

Grotovsky’s skill and enthusiasm for the language began in high school while sitting in the class of Amy Ficarello, the Lincoln-Way High School German teacher at north and east campuses for the last 10 years.

“Spanish is people’s first choice, but I wanted to study something unique,” Grotovsky said. “It might even be easier to learn than Spanish because it’s so close to the English language.”

For prospective engineering students that did not take German in high school, Grotovsky highly recommends taking German at the university level. Germany, Grotovsky said, is an engineering leader.

Studying German at University of Illinois — Grotovsky received his bachelor degree early May 2011 — also increased his love for German culture and history, especially after spending 10 months in Austria through the school’s Austria-Illinois Exchange Program.

Grotovsky lived with an Austrian roommate and attended classes with American peers, the perfect opportunity to apply his skills and repair holes in his knowledge of the German. Grotovsky expects to grow in this new experience, too.

“I’ll get a glimpse in the life of a teacher and how that exactly all works,” Grotovsky said. “After having taught four German classes this last semester as a student teacher, I realize there is so much more to learn. It makes me want to keep on learning.”

At the end of the year, Grotovsky will return to the University of Illinois to complete his master degree in German. He’s uncertain how far he’ll take his education.

“The more I learn, the more excited I become about all languages, not just German,” Grotovsky said.