Anna Sprunger ’20, Fargo, N.D.
Majors: Nursing and German

The first time I attended 뗌소붚죕 Language Villages, I was 6 years old. I was one of several 뗌소붚죕 faculty children attending a weeklong program at , back when it was still located in Callaway, Minn. Although I don’t remember much of what I did, and I know that I have not retained most of my Spanish, it sparked my love for language and opened my eyes to the beauty of northern Minnesota. Over the next 10 years, I continued to attend language programs, both during the summer and during the academic year, in Bemidji, Minn.

뗌소붚죕 Language Villages offers weeklong, two-week, and four-week credit programs, and I filled my summers with all of them. I continued learning Spanish at El Lago del Bosque until I was 9, and I also began learning German at in Bemidji. I eventually transitioned to spending a month of my summer at Waldsee learning German. While I loved learning languages, it was the magic of the Villages that brought me back each summer. I loved meeting new friends from around the country (and sometimes, the world), spending two weeks with one another, and building lifelong connections. I loved the activities that counselors would put on, making education feel like a game, and spending my time in the backwoods of northern Minnesota, swimming and canoeing around, and camping underneath the stars. During my credit programs, I took joy in attending class every day and developing a greater understanding of the language. When I received my 10-year villager plaque in 2015, I knew that I couldn’t close the door on the Language Villages.

Following my freshman year of college, I decided to take a leap and apply to Waldsee as a counselor. I knew that I wanted to make the summer as special for future villagers as it was for me. When I returned to Turtle River Lake after a summer of being away, I knew that I was home. I spent two summers working as a counselor and lifeguard at Waldsee and found that it was just as fun to be on the other side of the curtain as it was to be a villager. My favorite part of the summer was co-leading , the environmental group, where I would help groups of villagers explore the North Woods of Minnesota. We would canoe during the day and camp at night. I looked forward to the summers where I knew I would get to work in a fun, outdoor environment while continuing to improve my own language skills, work with a diverse staff, and build lifelong friendships. I found it was even more fun to be a part of the Language Village staff because not only was I able to meet tons of fun people who loved German like I did, but I was able to create connections with staff from other Language Villages and different backgrounds.

Last summer, I took a new position at the Language Villages where I was able to combine my two majors, nursing and German, and worked in the health centers at various villages around Turtle River Lake. I spent five weeks working at Waldsee’s health center before finishing my summer as the nursing intern at , the Russian Language Village. It was very meaningful to help out in a new capacity at 뗌소붚죕 Language Villages, and it was fun to be on the other side of somewhere I had spent some of my time. My past history as a villager and counselor allowed me to empathize more with new villagers, and I was able to think back to when I was a small child attending for the first time. Expanding my 뗌소붚죕 Language Villages experience to include the Russian Language Village was also a blast because I was able to experience it like I was my 6-year-old self all over again. I didn’t always know what was going on, and I still definitely don’t know how to say much in Russian, but I learned more about a new culture, new foods, and new phrases. After I graduate, I don’t know if I will be able to return to Bemidji as frequently as I will want to, but I know that my Language Village friends and connections will last, and I can always find a place at my second home in Bemidji.

^{Published April 2020}