Gustavus Adolphus College first-year student Karl Satterlund was recently awarded a Swedish Language Scholarship by the Swedish Council of America (SCA). The award will help Satterlund study in Sweden for a semester next spring.
Satterlund, a native of Pequot Lakes, Minn., plans to major in physics and Scandinavian studies. Always proud of his Swedish heritage, his study of the country and language began in earnest at the age of 10 when he first attended Concordia Language Villages’ Sjölunden Swedish camp in Bemidji, Minn.
“My holidays growing up were enveloped in Swedish traditions, sparking my curiosity in the language,” Satterlund said. “In traveling to Sweden next spring, I will be able to extensively further my knowledge of the country.”
“Karl will represent Gustavus and the Swedish Council of America well as this year’s recipient of the SCA’s Language Award,” Scandinavian studies professor and department chair Kjerstin Moody said. “He has been a joy to have in class: engaged, prepared, full of enthusiasm and with a desire to contribute and learn. I have enjoyed speaking with him about his intended double major in physics and Scandinavian studies and about his upcoming study-away semester in the spring of 2017 on Gustavus’s Semester in Sweden program, a program with core underpinnings in the liberal arts touching on Sweden’s minority populations, history, geology, politics, social structures, and language.”
During the Gustavus Semester in Sweden program in Spring 2017, Satterlund and a group of classmates will begin near the Arctic Circle and work south throughout the country over the course of five months. They will explore Sami culture, the environment, history, politics, and issues facing modern-day Sweden.
Satterlund is excited to pair his passion for physics with his love of Swedish culture, pointing to inventor Alfred Nobel and botanist Carl Linnaeus as examples of the country’s strong intellectual history. Satterlund’s personal interests include sustainability and renewable energy, a field in which Sweden is an international leader. “Sweden has become one of the most state-of-the-art countries in the world in terms of sustainability and the environment,” Satterlund said. “The SCA Language Scholarship will allow me not only to learn more about modern Sweden and the Swedish Language, but will also allow me to apply the country’s history of scientific innovation to what I am studying at Gustavus every day.”
Inaugurated in 2014, the SCA Swedish Language Scholarship is intended to encourage undergraduate students to enhance their knowledge of and fluency in the Swedish language by furthering their studies in Sweden and by interacting with native speakers.
Swedish Council of America (SCA) was founded in 1972 by a group of leading American-Swedish organizations. Since its inception, SCA Scholarships have been supporting American youth who want to broaden their educational experience in Sweden and Swedish students who are eager to study in the United States. SCA also provides grants and awards to community organizations and individuals who advocate continued strong relations between Sweden and America.
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