Giving is better than receiving, states an old proverb, and in this spirit, the German American Heritage Foundation once again granted two $2,500 domestic study scholarships for the 2024/2025 academic year to amazing students who impressed through their academic achievements, German language skills, and German cultural connections.
We are also excited to announce the creation of our very first endowed scholarship: The Maria Tillmann-Geschwent Scholarship Fund made possible through the generosity of Christel and Ronald Tillmann. This year’s recipients are the first to benefit from this newly established scholarship.
The candidates were chosen via a rigorous application process by GAHF’s Scholarship Committee from a field of very capable candidates. The scholarships are designed to defray the tuition, fees, or other costs of attending a U.S.-accredited college or university. Students majoring or minoring in German have preference in consideration for funding, but GAHF welcomes all majors and academic disciplines. This year’s committee is chaired by drector Tobias Münch, and the winners are Paul Ostermann-Healey and David Schniepp.
Paul Ostermann-Healey is from Alexandria, Va. He is currently a sophomore student at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. where he studies violin and Global and International Studies. He grew up in a German-speaking household where his passion for European and especially German history was nourished from a young age. He has German ancestry on both his mother’s and his father’s side; his maternal grandmother came to the United States in 1962 where she met her future husband, an ethnic German from Slovenia who had arrived ten years earlier.His father’s German ancestry goes back to the mid-19th century: “I’ve always been aware of my father’s German connection, because my grandmother tells stories of hearing German growing up at home, but I found the names and dates of my ancestors as a result of some stimulating research directly prior to this submission!” wrote Paul in June 2024. He has been involved in museums since the tender age of eight, when he was a junior docent at Gadsby’s Tavern in Alexandria, a historic eatery that hosted George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. His volunteer service commitment continues until today; Paul was a summer intern at the German American Heritage Museum, where he used his considerable experience and skill to create an updated archive and inventory. He was thrilled and extremely grateful at having been selected for a GAHF scholarship. He hopes to work in the field of diplomacy, where he aspires to bridge international gaps and work towards greater transatlantic partnership.
Our second scholarship winner is David Schniepp who hails from Williamsburg, Va. once the capital of the Virginia Colony where early German immigrants helped the colony flourish. David spent a year in Zurich, Switzerland, and another year in Vienna, Austria through his father’s work as a university professor.
Although living abroad allowed him to immerse himself in the language and culture, and to reconnect with his heritage, he also had to overcome some difficulties, such as getting accustomed to Swiss and Austrian German dialects. His parents had enrolled him in a local Austrian school for ninth grade, and he threw himself into studying the language after realizing that being in a new school system came with its own challenges. “I exceedingly misjudged my language skills and the courses’ rigor,” David recalled. “I picked up a few German textbooks, and studied the language harder than I have studied anything before. After months of rigorous work, I started seeing results in the second semester, passing my first Schularbeit.”
It was in Austria, that he fell in love with mathematics and the sciences, which led to his decision to pursue an engineering degree. He is currently a first-year student at the University of Virginia. As soon as he received the email that he was selected, David shared with us that he quite literally jumped in the air, and then rushed to call his parents. He was extremely happy to make his parents proud of him. David will continue developing his German skills and stay connected by joining the local German community at his university through the UVA German club. In addition, David was able to attend the GAHF gala at the Organization of American States where he had a chance to mix and mingle. Congratulations to both of you, Paul and David!