It took a little schicksal.
But Max Pearson’s unique combination of interests, and some help from committed mentors at Nebraska Wesleyan University, led him to an unexpected career opportunity.
What’s “schicksal”? Well, it’s German for “fate”.
Pearson recently accepted a full-time position as a German translator with Li-Cor Environmental, a biotechnology company in Lincoln. A job that started with an internship at Li-Cor after an assist from Heather Hoops in NWU’s Career Center, and Professor of Spanish and German Jo Ann Fuess.
“Heather Hoops really changed my life,” Pearson said. “Because she set me on the path that set me up for success with my degree.”
It was Hoops who first noticed Li-Cor had posted a German language internship on the Handshake career website.
Hoops reached out to Fuess, who a month earlier received an email from Pearson, who was looking to finish up his German degree after a two-year hiatus.
“Heather sends this email to Fuess, Fuess forwards it to me, and I applied within the hour,” Pearson said.
A German major with minors in chemistry and mathematics, Pearson’s work with Li-Cor involves translating the assembly processes for the company’s instruments from English to German so German assemblers can construct Li-Cor’s devices the same way they’re built in the United States.
“It’s very rare for someone to translate from their native language into another language, so this was a unique opportunity and right in Lincoln,” Fuess said. “His scientific background and attention to detail have allowed Max to thrive in this position and he gets to use his conversation skills to discuss the technical details of his work with the German engineers.”
Pearson’s internship experience doubled as his senior project. He graduated in December, continued with his internship, and as a new school year starts at NWU, Pearson’s professional career starts at Li-Cor.
“Dr. Fuess, or Frau Fuess as I like to call her, has taught me essentially everything I know with German,” Pearson said. “She’s been fantastic in preparing me for this sort of job.”
NWU’s small size allowed Pearson to dabble in multiple interests — he studied abroad in Germany for a year, taking chemistry classes in German. He spent hours in Acklie Hall of Science feeding his interest in STEM.
And of course Fuess fueled his interest in becoming fluent in German. Pearson had studied Spanish in high school, but was also studying German on his own. Before his first semester at NWU, he and Fuess met to test his German skills, which allowed him to begin his studies in that discipline at a third-semester level. Fuess personally adapted that class to fill in some of Pearson’s learning gaps.
That level of faculty and staff mentorship helped Pearson blend seemingly unrelated interests and discover a rewarding career most would have never imagined.
“It was so evident this opportunity to use his German skills within a scientific context was the perfect fit for him,” Hoops said. “I’ve rarely seen a student radiate so much pure joy and excitement over an internship. His capstone presentation was the first time I met Max (in person), and I believe his first words to me were, “‘Can I give you a hug?’”