Meet Taylor Compton, a graduating senior in the International Engineering Program. As part of the program, Compton is majoring in both engineering and German and spent a year abroad taking engineering courses in German and completing an internship at Kärcher, a family-owned global leader in innovative and sustainable cleaning technology with 150 companies in 80 countries, and more than 650 currently active patents. 

"During my study in Germany, I was able to take one of many aerospace courses offered by the TU Darmstadt called Space Flight Mechanics, where we learned how to determine the orbit of spacecraft and challenges of planetary and inter-planetary space flight," Compton said. "During this course, I was given the opportunity to visit the European Space Operations Center for the European Space Agency in Darmstadt."

Compton shared that European Space Operations Center is the mission control center for ESA missions, which protect Earth and assets in space from things such as approaching asteroids that could impact the planet. In the second semester abroad, Compton worked as an acoustic and vibration engineering intern at Kärcher.

Taylor and Jada Compton exploring Esslingen Germany

"I carried out sound optimization of devices with high-quality measurement technology in the Kärcher Sound Laboratory," he said, "and took over the design of acoustic components in theory, simulation, and experiment. I was able to connect and work with other interns at the company from Germany and all over the world. I gained practical skills that he will use in his professional career and continued to personally grow thanks to challenges and opportunities during the internship." 

 Compton additionally experienced a warm welcome in the local community.

"My wife went with me to Germany, and we were blessed by many kind people who we became close friends with there," Compton said. "For example, our landlord and his family helped us get our footing in Germany by showing us around the city, introducing us to their German friends and family, taking us to local festivals and museums, and by including us in German traditions. We were able to learn so much about the German culture, while also making close friends that felt almost like having our very own German family." 

Finally, Compton has advice for those who are thinking of adding languages to their university studies: "My advice for students thinking of studying languages is take the leap and get started. My advice after that would be to study abroad if the opportunity is available to you. There are many programs that can provide financial support to make this possible if you take the time to look and apply."

For those who are nervous about going abroad, Compton added: "Studying abroad, or spending an extended period of time in a different country than you grew up in, can leave you with so much to benefit from, even if you do not intend to use the language often in your professional or daily life. My wife and I learned to be flexible in difficult and complex situations and we now have a new-found respect for those that we met back in the USA that are living here for the first time. We also gained a love for travel that will continue to take us further than we ever thought possible before our time living in Germany and exploring surrounding countries. Early in my college career, I was faced with the decision of studying German in addition to engineering (which would extend my degree plan and time in college) or just focusing on my engineering course work, and I chose to pursue both majors and spend a year in Germany. Looking back, I can confidently say that I would 1000% make the same decision if presented with the option again today."