By Christie Wisniewski//
As a young boy, Dr. Scott Pincikowski never imagined he would be a German professor, speaking the language fluently and making annual trips to Germany.
“I originally wanted to be a chemist,” he said, laughing.
His fascination with the language occurred after his older brother Tim, introduced him to some high school German exchange students. One day, these exchange students began to speak German in front of him.
“It frustrated me,” Pincikowski admitted, cracking a smile.
This frustration motivated him to begin learning the language. In middle school, he took a “World of Languages” course that briefly introduced students to different languages. According to Pincikowski, when the German section was taught, he became hooked. The summer after his senior year in high school, he participated in an exchange program and visited Germany for the first time.
Scott Pincikowski (left) leads a trip to Germany.
Pincikowski has been employed as a professor at Hood College since 2001. In addition to teaching every level of the German language, he also teaches German literature and culture classes.
Hood College offers both a major and a minor in German, and beginner to advanced classes. Those students who have taken at least three levels of German can opt to live in the German house, where the students living there are expected to “live German,” according to Pincikowski.
“Hood College is fortunate that we have language houses,” Pincikowski said. “We’ve had language houses for 75 years. The German house, not as long, but probably 35 years.”
Frederik Hess is one of the German exchange students who lives in the German house.
“It’s interesting because I’m speaking English everywhere and when I’m in the German house I get to speak my native language,” Hess said. “It’s kind of like a piece of home in a foreign country and it’s nice.”
The German house, according to Hess, is a duplex with a shared kitchen, living room, and dining room. There are two bathrooms, one single bedroom, one double, and one triple.
“Living in a small house, you make close friends, friends for life,” Marie Schmitt, a French Language assistant at Hood said. “(Each) house has its own personality…”