{"id":1314,"date":"2015-09-04T19:17:01","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T19:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/?p=1314"},"modified":"2023-05-24T17:57:06","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:57:06","slug":"a-success-in-any-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/2015\/09\/04\/a-success-in-any-language\/","title":{"rendered":"A Success in Any Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Brent Harris<\/em><\/p>\n

Success.\u00a0Erfolg. \u00c9xito. Ch\u00e9nggOng. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether you speak the word in English, German, Spanish, or Chinese, Ronnie Posthauer will understand you. And it\u2019s a word that fits him perfectly.<\/p>\n

Now the two-time All-American hurdler is ready to leap over another challenge. Posthauer will spend the next year working as an\u00a0au pair<\/em>\u00a0in Germany while studying the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) with the goal of becoming a teacher.<\/p>\n

That means he\u2019ll speak more English in his work and in the classroom in Germany than he did in all of his courses his senior year at Wabash.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my classes these last two semesters were in foreign languages,\u201d Posthauer explains. \u201cI had two German classes, two Spanish classes, and a Chinese class, along with a language lab.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty tough, at first,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cGerman is my strongest language, so I would go to Spanish class and the professor would ask me a question. I would have the answer, but I would process it in German. I had to think a while about what it would be in Spanish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Posthauer talked with linguist and Associate Professor of Spanish Jane Hardy\u2014who is fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Slovenian \u2014about the problem. She explained the dynamics of \u201ccode switching.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s when you\u2019re speaking a newer language then switch to your stronger language to try to fill in what you mean,\u201d Posthauer says. \u201cSo my German was overriding the other languages. I really had to practice the others, then take five or ten minutes before each class to try and think in that language to get the gears going.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tricky part was that I didn\u2019t have the same language classes back to back. I would switch from German to Spanish to Chinese, then back to German before finally going back to Spanish. The only time I spoke English that semester was while I was having lunch with friends on campus or training for track season.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Posthauer\u2019s polylingual world<\/strong> is a far cry from his Ladoga, IN, roots. He had taken Spanish at Fountain Central High School but \u201chated it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no interest in studying languages when I came to Wabash. I wanted to study medicine, thought about being a specialized nurse and maybe getting into anesthesiology. After my first year I started to think about what I wanted to do and realized these choices were more about the money than actually wanting the job. So I started to think about what I really wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he took German\u2014\u201cI just thought it would be an interesting language to learn\u201d\u2014and decided to minor in it. That led to a May 2013 immersion trip to Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even realize there was an immersion trip with the course when I enrolled, and I got really excited when I found out,\u201d Post-hauer says.<\/p>\n

But as track season wound down and Posthauer\u2019s performances ramped up, he faced a difficult decision. The sophomore hurdler qualified for the NCAA outdoor nationals meet in La Crosse, WI, and the trip to Europe coincided with valuable training time he\u2019d need for the meet.<\/p>\n

Posthauer turned to Head Track Coach Clyde Morgan.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Morgan always puts education first. He said, \u2018You have this one chance, and you\u2019ve never been before. You need to go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Morgan also saw a way for Posthauer to pursue both dreams at once. The two met with Wabash Associate Professor of German Greg Redding \u201988, an avid runner, who contacted a local university in Germany and set up time for Posthauer to train during the trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first day there I warmed up by myself,\u201d Posthauer recalls. \u201cA guy who looked like a coach came over speaking to me in German. I still didn\u2019t speak the language that well then, but he spoke some English.<\/p>\n

The coach was teaching a class on hurdling.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I started training with his students. I don\u2019t think they expected much out of me at first. Then I made my first run over the hurdles and I suddenly had their undivided attention. They started filming to create a training video, and we became friends. It turned out to be one of the coolest things that happened while I was on the trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weeks later, Posthauer\u2019s trip to outdoor nationals ended with a time only 1\/100th of a second away from earning a place in the finals and the chance to earn his second All-America title.<\/p>\n

Posthauer\u2019s first had come three months earlier at NCAA indoor nationals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of disappointed,\u201d he says of his fifth-place effort at those indoor nationals. \u201cI\u2019m on the platform and I\u2019m thinking,\u00a0Fifth place. I\u2019ve never finished fifth in my life.<\/em>\u00a0Coach Morgan saw me and told me to smile. That\u2019s when I realized how big a deal it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience inspired the hurdler to put even more work into his sport, but also taught a lesson he carries with him to this day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started training a little harder. But I also realized I was a little too focused and tense and didn\u2019t enjoy the experience. I learned to back off during the meet a little bit and trust my training.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

During four years at Wabash,<\/strong> Posthauer qualified for seven NCAA championship meets, including the highlight of his career at the 2015 indoor championships, where he was part of the fastest field of 60-meter hurdlers in Division III history. Posthauer finished third at 7.96, the first sub-eight second time in the hurdles in Wabash history.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing off that line at the finish of the race,\u00a0I honestly didn\u2019t know where I had finished,\u201d Posthauer recalls. \u201cI knew there was a chance that\u00a0I had won, but I kept thinking,\u00a0Don\u2019t get too excited. Don\u2019t be disappointed when the results show up on the board, because you were right there.\u00a0<\/em>I saw the first name come up and it wasn\u2019t me. Then the second name came up and it wasn\u2019t me. Then my name came up and I saw my time and how close I was to the other two guys. I was thrilled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate losing, but it was close. That group ran three of the top-five quickest times in Division III history. I don\u2019t think I could have done anything better. It was the best possible way for my indoor season to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

He closed out his track career at Wabash in May, competing one final time in the 110-meter hurdles. In identical fashion to his race at La Crosse in 2013, Posthauer just missed a place in the finals by 1\/100th of a second to place 10th with a time of 14.62.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His individual accolades<\/strong> include two All-America performances among many victories, but Posthauer says his time as a Little Giant brought a confidence and level of expectation he never could have achieved on his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never even imagined myself as a conference champion, let alone a national qualifier or All-American,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I started talking with Coach Morgan in the spring of my junior year in high school. He said he saw me as an All-American hurdler. He told me I had the ability to qualify for nationals as a freshman. I looked at him and laughed!<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he was just flattering me to get me to come to Wabash. But he was right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never won a team conference title in high school, so to be part of a dynasty that has won four consecutive indoor and outdoor North Coast Athletic Conference championships is really special. I\u2019ve met my best friends through track and field at Wabash. Having these guys support you every single day, you really start to bond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Posthauer\u2019s immediate future is in Germany. Hired as an\u00a0au pair,\u00a0<\/em>he will also teach the family English. He\u2019s planning on taking courses in ESL but may also pursue a master\u2019s degree in German.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to travel as much as I can before I settle down,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Passion.\u00a0Leidenschaft. Pasion. R\u00e8q\u00edng.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Whatever direction his future may take, Posthauer has learned the importance of pursuing his passion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know that I have a particular talent for languages or hurdling,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s just that I love them both, so it\u2019s easy for me to focus and commit more time to them. I was doing something\u00a0I enjoyed doing, and that\u2019s what allowed me excel so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Brent Harris Success.\u00a0Erfolg. \u00c9xito. Ch\u00e9nggOng. \u00a0 Whether you speak the word in English, German, Spanish, or Chinese, Ronnie Posthauer will understand you. And it\u2019s a word that fits him perfectly. Now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":1315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speaking-of-sports"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2015\/09\/posthauer-1024x682.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1316,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314\/revisions\/1316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}