Alumni Spotlight: an Intro by Sonia Alegre

Hello, Schillerians! I am excited to open a new section on the blog, aimed at putting the spotlight on us, the lucky ones who have experienced what it is to be a global American university student at Schiller. I am Sonia Alegre, a graduate of International Economics from the Class of 2000. I spent most of my learning time in Heidelberg, but I also studied at the Paris and Madrid campuses.

Through this new blog content, we want to engage and connect alumni, faculty and friends from around the world. We will cover alumni profiles and news to reconnect with the Schiller community through our blog, programs, networking opportunities, professional development resources and events.

Please follow us and get in touch if you want to reconnect with your classmates. The Schiller alumni community is your community.

Our time at Schiller was a unique life experience that we should continue to take advantage of. Schiller not only taught us Macroeconomics, Business Administration or Marketing, but it also impacted who we are and who we have become.

Having classmates from all over the world was one of the most enriching experiences I could have ever dreamed of. I shared marketing talks with classmates from Serbia and Croatia; discussions on microeconomics with classmates from Portugal and Nigeria; debates on international relations with classmates from Egypt, Belgium and India. And, of course, many coffees in the cafeteria with students from Turkey, Libya and Pakistan.

The class size allowed us to absorb the knowledge of excellent professors like Paul Isbel, Larry Heglar and George Collison, to name just a few, who taught us how to think critically and globally. I have unforgettable memories of classmates from my time in Schiller Heidelberg (Carmen Cirjak, Tessa Noens, Jeff Audrey), Paris (Frank Pohl) and Madrid (JR, Anna Zatsepinna).  

And, thanks to Schiller alumni, I got my first job producing country reports all over the world. A job I couldn't have been better prepared for, as I majored in international economics. And, when I went to Sudan, I had a classmate I could turn to. It was the same in Turkey, the Maldives and Egypt, there was always a classmate wherever I went. Imagine how useful this was, especially at a time when we didn't have social networks.

So please, if you studied at Schiller, get in touch with us, follow us on social media, come visit us and spread the word to all your other Schiller classmates you are still in touch with and let us know who you would like to hear from as well. Help us rebuild the community and stay tuned for more to come.

You can reach us through our social media profiles on Linkedin, Instagram or Twitter, where we will be sharing the new posts.