Oakland Mills Grad Awarded Fulbright Grant

Katherine Rennenkampf has caught the travel bug.

"I got absolutely addicted to traveling," said the freshly-minted University of Maryland graduate who has visited Peru, France, Martinique, Ireland, Germany and India.

Now Rennenkampf, also an Oakland Mills High School grad, is headed to Indonesia.

This summer she was awarded one of about 1,700 highly competitive merit-based Fulbright grants. Her scholarship enables her to travel to Indonesia, where she'll work for several months as an English teaching assistant.

For Rennenkampf, who has degrees in mathematics, economics, and English, it's an exciting opportunity.

"I was looking for opportunities to lend my love of teaching and combine it with my passion for traveling," said Rennenkampf. "The Fulbright was perfect."

The program places Rennenkampf in a high school in Bogor, on the island of Java, about 60 miles south of Indonesia's capital Jakarta.

"We work specifically in tenth grade classrooms on English and culture," said Rennenkampf. "We work closely with a co-teacher."

She said she's excited to learn about Indonesia's culture and diversity, as well as pick up some teaching experience in the process. When the scholarship's term concludes, Rennekampf said she hopes to travel around Southeast Asia.

"I would love to see Vietnam and other areas of Southeast Asia, China and Japan would be amazing," said Rennenkampf.

Afterwards, she'll be looking for a teaching position, likely in mathematics.

Rennekampf was one of 12 UMD students to receive a Fulbright scholarship for the 2013-2014 academic year.

"Maryland's undergraduate and graduate recipients of the Fulbright grant are an extraordinarily talented and adventuresome group of students and a credit to the departments where they study," said Professor James Gilbert, UMD's Fulbright program adviser, in a statement.

As for her roots in Columbia, Rennekampf was happy to give Oakland Mills High a shout-out.

"I may be biased, but I do think it's the best high school in Columbia," said Rennenkampf, who finished her undergraduate degrees with a GPA of 3.83.