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Katharina Bruehl has Harley’s and cell phones on her mind.
No, she’s not thinking about text messaging some biker and hitting the open road on a Fatboy. She’s just got a couple of business class projects due.
“November consisted of a lot of tests and I was assigned two group projects, one in International Marketing and another in Consumer Buyer Behavior,” she said. “With International Marketing, we decided to look at the strategy of Harley-Davidson over the history of the company; how they handled competition from overseas. We had the choice between that or Nokia but the Harleys sounded more interesting.”
Still, Kat couldn’t get too far from those little electronic distractions that everyone seems to carry around these days. The project in Consumer Buyer Behavior? You guessed it — cell phones.
“We’re looking at cell phone manufacturers and how they use knowledge of consumer buyer behavior in order to sell their product,” she said. “They’re both due in early December, but I wanted to get them out of the way early.”
As she continues to fiddle with her class schedule for next semester — “it’s going to be tough to schedule all of the classes I need” — this semester’s crop is sailing along smoothly, a combination of B’s, B+’s, and A’s.
As far as a social life goes, “I have no social life,” Kat said shaking her head.
“I wake up at 4:45 a.m. and I go to the gym — I just started back. I usually get home around 9 p.m., get some stuff done, and go to bed,” she said. “As long as I know this kind of schedule is only going to last a certain amount of time, I’m okay with it. There’s only a month to go and I’m very much looking forward to a little time off.”
Even so, Kat has managed to wedge in a little socializing here and there. She even got a little taste of the Old Country at the campus Oktoberfest held during Homecoming week.
“I sang with the accordion player. He asked where I was from and I told him the state of Thuringia (in Germany),” she said. “He actually knew a traditional song from there!”
Kat wanted to donate blood during the annual fall blood drive, but wasn’t allowed to since she’s been overseas in the past year. She was, however, able to watch the Ambler campus staff cruise on to victory in the students versus staff volleyball game to which she brought along a guest — Josh, the son of her host family, whom she helps care for.
An outdoor dance one night. A Food For Thought lecture series career panel during an afternoon. Student Government meetings and American Marketing Association events. A Sigma Chi Delta Halloween dance. So much for no social life.
“I didn’t dress up for the dance,” Kat said. “I had just gotten back from a meeting. I was translating for neighbor who is a lawyer.”
She did break out the she-devil costume, complete with red wig, for a Halloween night in Wilmington, Delaware.
“We did the loop of all of the clubs. It gets more packed every year,” she said. “I have a good friend who lives in Delaware and deejays so we were able to get in through the back doors.”
On November 17, it was a dress-up day of a different kind for the Fox School of Business and Management’s “Dress for Success Fashion Show” held right in Bright Hall Lounge. From a choice of fashion dos and don’ts, Kat was shooting for being a don’t.
“I don’t think I have the right clothes for the dos. I wear a lot of long blazers, which you don’t usually wear in a professional setting,” she said. “Even if you look professional to some people, it can still be wrong. I’d rather go ‘don’t.’”
On November 23, Kat spent most of the day huddled over a box of frozen turkeys to support the Philabundance Turkey Round-up held on campus. The charity event netted 68 turkeys for families in need. In keeping with the Turkey Day spirit, she then went with a few dozen of her fellow students over to St. Mary’s Villa in Ambler to have a holiday meal and play some games with the villa kids.
School, extracurricular events, and home are always a balancing act so Kat is looking forward to some down time between semesters.
“I’m going to try to catch up a little bit with my personal life. My dad’s 50th birthday is coming up so I’m drawing a self-portrait. I never even knew I could draw until I took a drawing class and there it was,” she laughed. “My grandparents will also be celebrating their 50th anniversary on January 15, so I may be heading back home for that if I can manage it.”
Thanksgiving consisted of a visit to her host mother’s family in New Jersey, some 20 to 25 people strong with a jam session thrown in for good measure.
“She has a nephew that also plays the sax,” she said, “so we usually jam after dinner.”
Being so far away from home leaves Christmas up in the air.
“It’s a little harder time of year. I usually spend it with friends,” she said. “I could visit my great uncle. We’ll just have to see what turns up.”
This is the second part of an “A Year in the Life” feature on Katharina Bruehl. Kat, originally from Leina, Germany, entered her senior year studying International Business Administration at Temple University Ambler at the time of the series.
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