Es kann die Ehre dieser Welt
Theodor Fontane
Es kann die Ehre dieser Welt
Dir keine Ehre geben,
Was dich in Wahrheit hebt und hält,
Muß in dir selber leben.
Wenn′s deinem Innersten gebricht
An echten Stolzes Stütze,
Ob dann die Welt dir Beifall spricht,
Ist all dir wenig nütze.
Das flücht′ ge Lob, des Tages Ruhm
Magst du dem Eitlen gönnen;
Das aber sei dein Heiligtum:
Vor dir bestehen können.
Clara-Maria Baumann
Clara-Maria Baumann has two passions: psychology and poetry. The two are well suited, and Clara-Maria knows she is blessed to be able to pursue both. The above poem by Theodor Fontane, in English, The Hoard of Honor in the World, is one she finds particularly inspiring. “The honor of the world can give you no honor,” Fontane writes in the second stanza, “Fleeting praise, the day's glory, you may grant to the vain; But let this be your sanctuary: To be able to stand before yourself.” Clara-Maria’s hopes for the future embody this call for selfless dreams.
Clara-Maria was raised in a small Bavarian town, Dillingen an der Donau, in what she describes as the perfect middle between idyllic mountain living and big city Munich life. Having grown up surrounded by mountains, she now enjoys the gentle lake walks around Notre Dame du Lac. Nature has always been a reprieve from the problems of everyday life, offering opportunities for self reflection and peace. Standing before a mountain or a lake, Clara-Maria explains, one feels their place in the world more keenly.
Before becoming a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) at Notre Dame, the last time Clara-Maria went abroad for a time was just before she went to University, when she traveled to South Africa with a service group for about a month. She came back inspired to “make the world a better place.” She packed up, went to Munich, and studied Management of Renewable Energies, a noble pursuit – for three semesters. In Germany, one applies for an area of study when they apply for university, and it’s not an easy thing to change one’s mind. After much self-reflection, Clara-Maria realized it wasn’t her calling. She made the difficult decision to go back home to Dillingen an der Donau, a choice which set her on the path to truly making a difference in the world.
It was fortuitous that at this time a teacher at the primary school in her hometown happened to be moving schools. Clara-Maria was asked to step into the role, at least temporarily. She declined their offer. She had never wanted to be a teacher, one spends so much time in school in their youth already. Then she was asked again. When she taught her first class by herself, to her surprise, Clara Maria thought, “maybe this is exactly the place where I belong. The best way to make the world a better place is to start with the children; they are the future, after all.”
Three weeks into her teaching job, Clara-Maria had another revelation: she was quite gifted at the psychological part of the job. It contented her to give help and support to children and families with difficult circumstances. So, after teaching in her hometown for a time, Clara-Maria went back to school with the intention of becoming a teacher. The Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt is located in a small town much like her own, only with its population being something close to four parts university students, one part nuns. Here, she earned her Bachelors in German Language and Literature, and passed the Bavarian examinations for her teaching certification.
German Language and Literature is a broad field, so while at University, Clara-Maria focused on poetry. The appreciation runs in the family, for Clara-Maria’s mother and grandmother both also loved the genre, and all three of them share the same favorite poet, Rainer Maria Rilke. Clara-Maria’s grandmother wrote a book of poetry herself, which Clara-Maria gratefully inherited upon her passing. Clara-Maria’s mother sends her poetry that reminds her of Clara-Maria now that she is so far from home. A poet, Clara-Maria explains, says in five lines what a novelist needs an entire book to say. “Their words are more valuable; they give you the words you don’t have.”
While at University, Clara-Maria tutored and worked at primary schools when classes were not in session. One summer, she worked at a summer school for children with special needs. She loved being able to “help them understand themselves, and help them help themselves.” This experience gave Clara-Maria further clarity to know that she was called to work with children in educational and therapeutic capacities.
After graduating, however, it was time for something new. The last time Clara-Maria went abroad had been at a major milestone of change for her. She needed to feel that change again, to be inspired. A professor at University recommended Clara-Maria apply for the exchange program with Notre Dame. This was not a Fulbright scholarship, but the first year of partnership between the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.
This new scholarship program has been everything Clara-Maria hoped for. She is currently finishing her masters from the University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in German Language and Literature, taking three classes remotely at her university in Germany, two classes at Notre Dame, in addition to the German language class she teaches. She turns in papers due at 6 pm in Germany at 1 pm in Indiana, and goes to classes in Eastern time as well as German time. It is challenging, but the reward has been well worth it. The independence she’s gained in South Bend has helped her reach the next level. For the German language class she teaches, Clara Mara has nothing but gratitude. She herself is taking a language class at Notre Dame, Italian, and this perspective helps her empathize with her students’ endeavors. “German is a tough language, the grammar is difficult.” But she notes university students go to class because they are interested, not because they are told. She’s grateful for her students' interest and glad for the opportunity to teach them.
Next semester, Clara-Maria will have finished the coursework for her masters and focus on her written thesis which centers on the German poetry of those who immigrated to the United States during or around World War II. There is much room for reflection in such poetry, centered around drastic changes in circumstances with real and serious consequences. Clara-Maria’s thesis study has given her new words to carry with her as her own life circumstances change. The work of Rose Ausländer in particular has spoken deeply to Clara-Maria, who considers Ausländer to be a new favorite poet of hers. The intensity of Ausländer’s works lends the same gravity to the soul as a mountain might. Ausländer offers the same space for reflection.
After finishing her masters, Clara-Maria will sit for the exam for her psychology certification back home. In a perfect world, she says, Clara-Maria would split her time as a therapist and as a teacher of German literature. The poem by Theodor Fontane which she is so inspired by says in twelve lines more than we ever could about the nature of Clara-Maria’s aspirations. Her dreams are very noble. She hopes to “light a fire” in young students and help children and families to heal from whatever hurts they have, not for the acclamations of others, but for the joy she brings forth. For all this, she will surely make the world brighter every day. As Clara Maria says, “You have to dream all of your dreams, and live all the lives that you dream of.”
The Hoard of Honour in the World
The hoard of honour in the world
Cannot to thee be giving:
The cause, if thou to truth be held,
Must in thyself be living.
Hast thou in thee no spark of thee
Nor proper pride sustaining,
Though all may warmly speak of thee,
It’s little to thy gaining.
The fame of days, the fleeting praise,
Are braggart folly’s failing:
Be blest in this, to win thy bays
By thine own strength prevailing.
About the CSLC
The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures (CSLC) aims to support language learners at ND by facilitating meaningful experiences with linguistic acquisition and exchange - both in our campus community and abroad. We believe that access to the world's languages and cultures allows us to seek out new perspectives, to value the diversity of the world's cultures, and to embody global citizenship.