A Potsdam native has recently been reporting from the heart of the USA: Luisa Wiewgorra (23) has been a journalist for Fox 47, a local television station in Lansing, the capital of the state of Michigan, since November. The way there was anything but easy: Luisa switched to the Fox broadcaster through a chance acquaintance with a reporter while she was working for a production company in Detroit. Before that, she studied journalism and broadcasting at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan and television production. The Potsdam native had been preparing for her studies for years. It was the first big step towards her big dream of becoming a TV journalist.
Beginnings at local radio in Potsdam
Already at the age of 13 Luisa completed an internship at Radio Potsdam. From then on it was clear to her that she wanted to get into journalism. “It just showed: This is the right thing for me,” she recalls in an interview with the MAZ in Michigan.
In order to be able to afford her studies in America, the then student of the Potsdam Humboldt Gymnasium began to apply for a scholarship. She put almost all of her free time into volleyball training and worked on her fitness, and improved her jumping height – up to 20 centimeters, not an easy achievement.
Her bite paid off. In 2017, an agency placed her at Madonna University, and she received a scholarship for her athletic achievements. “It all happened quickly,” she says. “The offer came in June 2017, and it started in August.”
High bar for future students from Germany
Going to America was the right decision, she says, even if she didn’t find it easy to settle in at first. She didn’t feel particularly confident in English and worked in a café to improve her language skills. “But I know that I can write and moderate texts,” she says, “and that has helped my confidence.”
When asked by MAZ, her former professor Neal Haldane praised Luisa as an exceptionally good student. “Luisa got top marks in my editing course,” he writes. “Even though the course often drives native speakers to despair.” Luisa is his first German student and has set the bar high for future students from Germany.
With an accent in front of the camera
According to data from College Factual and the US government, there are fewer than ten German students at Madonna University. At Fox 47, Luisa is the only one on her team of elevenwho does not have English as their first language. In the meantime, English is no longer a problem for her, she has been speaking fluently for a long time. During the week, the 23-year-old produces four video segments for Fox 47 on all sorts of topics, interviewing a wide variety of people. Still, “It bothers me that you can still hear my accent in English,” she says. The Americans, on the other hand, find it quite exciting and don’t mind. And while she was still active behind the scenes at the Detroit production company, on Fox 47 she’s the one in front of the camera – despite her accent.
Luisa doesn’t really feel at home yet
“In general, I find Americans open-minded and helpful,” she says. “But I still feel drawn to Potsdam.” It wasn’t easy for family and friends to see her go to America either. And if she’s honest: she still doesn’t feel completely at home there – also because she’s moved so often in Michigan: from Livonia to Detroit and finally to Lansing last fall.
“America doesn’t make it easy for foreigners,” she adds. You’re always a bit in limbo. It is difficult to secure a visa, and so you can only plan for the future to a limited extent.
For the time being, she wants to stay at Fox 47, gain experience and develop her skills, says Luisa. Her goal is to tell stories that might change something. Later she wants to switch to a national or even international television station. Luisa says she’d be happy to return to Germany at some point – but then maybe as a correspondent for America.
By Linus Hoeller
