Courtney Wright and Dr. Michelle James, German Department

For the last year I have been working on glossing Volume II of Elisa von der Recke. Doctor Michelle James has been working closely with me throughout the year, directing me in what I should do, and when and how it should be done. Coupled with her knowledge of Elisa von der Recke, and the German language, I have been able to complete the glossing that was the desired goal for my ORCA Grant project.

After receiving notification from the ORCA grant that I would be awarded the funds to complete the outlined project, I began reading the 580 page volume to begin glossing. I met with Doctor James, and she gave me the necessary materials that would aid in my ability to properly define people, places, archaic German words, as well as French. Doctor James and I determined that email would be the best way for us to communicate because I would be working in Moab, UT for the majority of the year.

Throughout the summer I spent approximately an hour each day reading and defining each person, place, and word that I came across. In addition to the materials Doctor James gave me, I used many online resources; Google Translation, Google maps, Dictionary.com, and Wikipedia, which contained many leads to more credible sources.

Upon completely reading Volume II of Elisa von der Recke I had approximately three quarters of the volume glossed. The remaining quarter is words, people, and places that I could not find using the aforementioned resources I had at my disposal. In order to find this remaining information I will need to continue my research using the Brigham Young University Library, and more in depth resources provided to me by Doctor James and the German department. I will continue to work with Doctor James throughout this next semester to complete the glossing of Volume II.

I am very appreciative to the ORCA grant foundation. I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with Doctor James, an extremely intelligent and supportive mentor. She helped me immensely, and was patient throughout the entire project. I know that she could have completed the project more quickly had she done it herself, but I am grateful that she gave me the chance to work with her, and learn from her wealth of knowledge.
The ORCA project is a wonderful opportunity for students and teachers to work together on a more personal level. I was able to have exposure to Doctor James in a way that I might not have been able to have, had I not had the pleasure to work with her through the ORCA foundation.

I learned many things throughout this year about myself by being responsible for the progress of my project. Doctor James was there to give me gentle reminders every once in a while, but the main progress depended upon my ability to organize and complete the goals that I had set at the beginning of the year. There were times that I was so frustrated with the pace of the project, but through my frustration I had to learn to be patient with my research. Researching was more often than not a lot more time consuming than I had planned on. I quickly learned that I had to schedule time out of my day to research, or else I would not stay on track, and quickly got behind schedule.

Although my ORCA project was much more time consuming than I had initially planned on I am grateful that my project was selected, and I had the opportunity to grow. There were days that I was so frustrated with my researching that I wish I had never undertaken the project, but now that it is done I am truly grateful for the many things that I learned; not only about Elisa von der Recke and the German culture of the late 18th Century, but also about myself, and my ability to see things through and organize my efforts to complete a project that I could be proud of.