In early 2013, Erika set off to Bavaria to focus on German and media studies at the Universität Regensburg. She spent the following two years in Berlin, where she took language courses at the Goethe Institut and did an online marketing internship for the international analog camera company Lomography. “Doing online marketing for Lomography Deutschland brought my studies of German and my creative skills together into a practical work experience. At the company’s German headquarters, I was writing articles and online marketing materials, negotiating joint campaigns with other companies around the country and supporting launch campaigns for new cameras and films… and all that took place in German. In fact, one of the first things I had to write about was their new ‘color-negative infrared film’ (Farbnegativ-Infrarotfilm) called LomoChrome Purple. It forced me to master the language in new ways and think on my feet,” she says.
At the end of her stay in Berlin, Erika took the Goethe-Zertifikat C2: Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom. The C2 certifies that a candidate has reached the sixth and highest level of language competency according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Reaching this level requires a minimum of 1,000 German language lessons and serves as proof that a student can effortlessly express himself or herself in German, discuss complex topics fluently and with precision and nuance, understand virtually all written and spoken German, and logically summarize information from both written and spoken sources. A foreign student passing the Goethe-Zertifikat C2 is entitled to study at a German university and the certificate also counts as official evidence for German language competency for teaching positions in Germany.
Erika has now returned to Boulder to finish her studies in Marketing at the Leeds School of Business and her minor in Chinese. This semester she was selected to intern at the state of Colorado’s International Trade Office at the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), as well as for the German American Chamber of Commerce. At the OEDIT, she assists Colorado companies in navigating the world of exporting, creates marketing materials for the state agency, and aids in planning Governor Hickenlooper’s trade mission to Japan, China, Israel and Turkey. The German American Chamber of Commerce is also planning a trade delegation to the world’s largest industrial trade show, the Hannover Messe, which will take place in Spring 2016. Erika is currently working to attract delegates to participate in the week-long trade mission, where they will visit and/or display at the trade show and engage in meetings with German firms.