The German Club will be attending the annual UIC German Day event on March 11 where German students of all levels will compete with other schools using a combination of knowledge and creativity.

“What people take away from this totally varies” Troy Mundschenk, junior, said. “Some people go just to get a day off of school. But the people I talk to really enjoy the experience by just being in the environment of German, as opposed to just learning it in class. You not only learn new words, but you get a better feel for the language and how it all fits together.”

The event attracts around 16 different schools from around the Chicago area, with a total of over 300 German students attending annually. The UIC German Day has eight main events: Poetry Recitation, Culture Essay, Skits in German, Spelling Bee, City Guide, Impressions of America, Werbespot-Video, and Program Cover Art Contest.

“I think that the students like to participate because it’s fun. Students can create videos or artwork or put on skits and they can express themselves” Andrew Ziarnik, German teacher and German Club sponsor, said. “The German club seems to be very excited and involved in it every year. The school has a good history in the last four years of placing well and being one of the top two or three schools in terms of things that are presented there.”

Mundschenk will be competing in the Poetry Recitation portion of German day with Paul Celan’s poem, “Todesfuge”.

“It’s about the Holocaust from the perspective of a German worker and how it’s driving him insane” Mundschenk said. “A poetry reading tends to be a bit more like a memorized performance than a simple stand and talk. We’ve been preparing for German day since around late November or early December.”

Both Ziarnik and Mundschenk are excited to be a part the event. The German Club’s participants are currently preparing for the competition and hope to make it to the top of the score board, according to Mundschenk.

“There really are quite a lot of challenges and I think that the students in our program have lived up to that challenge,” Ziarnik said. “I work with the students on a variety of levels so I’m just excited to see how they can all do.”