Fall 2019 Participants

Name: Nicole Ibler

Home Country: Germany

Occupation: Teacher

Work Placement: WVU School of Nursery“I saw this and thought ‘that’s the right program for me’, because the United States is very interesting, and it has good teachers. I am really excited that I’m here and I’m looking forward to the rest of my program.”                                                     


Name: Estefania Lopez

Home Country: Mexico

Occupation: Entrepreneur

Work Placement: WVU LaunchLab

“I want my business to be more automatized. It’s working in an old way now, like ‘send me your email, send me your order’. I want to make it more efficient, maybe an app to make it easier for my clients. I’d like  to develop more of my business while I’m here.”

Name: Omowunmi Olabode

Home Country: Nigeria

Occupation: Psychiatric nurse

Work Placement: WVU School of Medicine

“I joined because I still need to learn, to improve my professional skills, to see how other cultures view mental health, to learn their perspectives, and to then go back home to be a culturally competent nurse.”


Name: Luisa Gabriela Espinoza Rosales

Home Country: Bolivia

Occupation: Industrial Engineer

Work Placement: WVU School of Engineering

“I have communication difficulties with suppliers, such as emails taking me a long time to write if they’re not in Spanish. My main objective through this program is to improve my professional English.”


Name: Rafael Vial

Home Country: Brazil

Occupation: Architect

Work Placement: Morgantown City Planning Board

“We have the bachelor’s degree in Brazil for architect and urban planning, but it’s really difficult to find a field close to urban planning, and that’s a field I love to work in. I want to get enough experience here around transportation and planning to get back to Brazil and do my master’s thesis.”


Name: Sina Vogt

Home Country: Germany

Occupation: Social worker

Work Placement: Morgantown Area Youth Services Project

“I want to learn about how other cultures are dealing with the same things we are at home because we have a totally different social system in Germany than the United States.”


Name: Frederike Weidemann

Home Country: Germany

Occupation: School social worker

Work Placement: Human Resource Development Foundation

“I hope that I can get new ideas here for my job in Germany so I can enjoy my job in a different way; with new impressions and more confidence in working with international pupils.”