Henry Moraja ’25 will spend the next eleven months in Germany after being selected for the 2025-2026 Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX).
“I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to spend more time in Germany and continue my study of German language and culture,” says Moraja, who majored in German. “CC's German Department and the study abroad options it offers inspired me to pursue this program and I feel well prepared to take advantage of this great experience and learn from the challenges it will present to me.”
The CBYX gives 65 Americans and 65 Germans the opportunity to spend one year in each other’s countries, where they study, intern, and live with hosts involved in the cultural immersion program. The CBYX Program for Americans has three phrases: Intensive Language Training for two months upon arriving in Germany; the Study Phase, which consists of a semester of classes at a university, technical, or professional school; and the Internship Phase, which is a three-to-five-month internship in the participant’s field. Moraja will spend the first two months taking intensive languages courses at the Carl Duisberg Centrum language school to ensure his verbal and written communication skills are adequate in order for him to use only German for the rest of the program. Following that, he will take a semester of university classes. Because Moraja wants to be an academic librarian, his classes will focus on library science. Once the semester of classes concludes, he will participate in a five-month internship in an archive or library.
Moraja hopes to gain work experience in a German library to bring an international and multidisciplinary perspective to his future career as an academic librarian. He is also looking forward to exploring new parts of Germany and making connections with other CBYX participants.
“CBYX is unique in that it is both a cultural exchange program and an opportunity to gain work experience abroad,” Moraja says. “I feel very lucky and excited to be able to combine my two biggest interests—German and librarianship—for a year, and I am hoping to increase my understanding of libraries from an international perspective before going to graduate school to get my Master of Library Science.”
Moraja first became interested in learning German in the fourth grade, when his music class did a program of international songs in their original languages, and he was fascinated with the German song. “I decided I wanted to become fluent someday and started teaching myself the language with YouTube videos and Duolingo,” he says. “Also, my grandma and grandpa were in the military and lived in Germany after World War II. That was a special time in my grandma's life, so I also grew up hearing her good memories of the country.”
Moraja studied abroad in Berlin as a junior at CC during the 2023 Fall Semester, which further ignited his passion for the German language and his love of Germany.
“The study aboard experience was really valuable to me and both confirmed to me that I want to continue taking my study of German seriously and increased my confidence with living abroad for longer periods of time,” Moraja says. “I feel very confident in my ability to adjust to life in Germany and make the most of this experience thanks to CC's robust study abroad program.”
Moraja is grateful for his advisors Dr. Christiane Steckenbiller, Associate Professor and Chair of the German Department, and Dr. Chet Lisiecki, Associate Professor in the German Department, both of whom supported him throughout the application process and inspired him to continue learning German.
“It was such a joy to work with Henry and to observe how deeply and carefully he thinks about language and literature,” says Lisiecki. “Working with him on his senior project (a creative translation/adaptation of the German play Spring Awakening) has changed the way I read and teach this text. I fondly remember our many lively and engaging discussions about how best to translate certain words and phrases, or adapt certain scenes and characters, to preserve the spirit of the original text as well as support his creative vision. Being awarded the CBYX for Young Professionals Fellowship is an enormous achievement, and I am so proud of Henry for taking this next step towards his personal and career goals.”
“We are incredibly proud of Henry for receiving this very prestigious scholarship,” Steckenbiller says. “He has been an exceptional student to work with and I was not surprised at all when he told me that he was among the very few selected for this program. I couldn’t be more excited for him and this unique opportunity to live in Germany where he will be able to continue his language study and get a glimpse of German university life. Study abroad is one of the most transformative and rewarding experiences a student can have. It opens up new worlds, adventures, and a wide range of opportunities – at CC and, as we can see from Henry’s example, also after graduation.”
CBYX was established by the U.S. Congress and German Bundestag as a public diplomacy program to promote understanding between Americans and Germans. In the U.S., CBYX is sponsored by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Cultural Vistas has administered CBYX for Young Professionals for 40 years.