So that's it. I'm back in America and have been for over a month and a half now. I'm working two jobs and taking summer classes. My semester abroad is over and all I have left from it are memories. Pictures I can show people and talk about.
But is that all I really came back with?
I have had a very interesting first two years of school here at Texas A&M. I've kind of compared my relationship to this school as a couple who has had a kid and wants to get a divorce but are going to stick together to raise the kid until it graduates.
In this analogy, the kid is my biomedical engineering degree and the couple is Texas A&M and I.
These first two years, I've thought to myself "Why did I choose Texas A&M? What made me want to go here?" And I'll be honest, I've been looking at other schools to transfer to. Being in College Station, not being able to have a personal connection with your teacher, not being able to get close with all your peers in your major, it was really disheartening. I really didn't think I was doing college right. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to stick with biomedical engineering. All of these other kids around me who had secured research positions, internships, just seemed so much more qualifies then I was for this major.
My viewpoint changed thanks to this trip. This study abroad experience was probably the best thing that could've happened to me while I've been at Texas A&M. I am so incredibly thankful for how everything turned out on that trip. The journeys I went on with now some of my closest friends, the bonds I was able to build with my professors and TA's, the connections I now have in Germany, the culture I was able to experience. I really can't even begin to describe in words what this trip was to me.
I went in on this trip having no experience in biomedical engineering, my GPA was subpar, I was very under qualified when comparing resumé's to other students, I had no understanding of Europe or any of the surrounding countries, no connections with any of my professors, nothing.
I came back with study abroad experience, working for a startup biomedical engineering company experience, connections with professors and TA's, close friends within the department of BMEN, a research position that a professor set up for me, a semester GPA of 3.8 (the highest it's been since I've been at A&M), and a whole new understanding of the world.
This trip was honestly life changing. I am so incredibly thankful for everything that happened on the trip. Being paired with a roommate who I had no idea of at the beginning made the trip even better. Living with a host family who was so incredibly friendly and laid back, was awesome. I know I've matured and I know that I'm ready to continue my growth as a biomedical engineer.
So no, pictures and souvenirs were not the only thing I came back with on this trip. There is nothing that I could complain about (except maybe the wifi that kept cutting in and out at the AIB) for this trip. The city of Bonn was great. Germany was great. Europe was great. I am so thankful for the length of the program as well. I feel that if it was any shorter, or longer, I wouldn't have appreciated it as much. Being away for just a semester really made everything tie in and left me wanting more. I so want to go back.
The AIB and Kristin and Tete and Dr. Wasser really surpassed all of my expectations for this trip. Dr. Wasser had talked it up and made it sound like it was going to be so much better than it actually was. But it was so much better then how he explained it. The fact that I was able to look at pieces of art, or sculptures, or different cathedrals and have the audacity to say "meh I liked the other one better" still kind of blows my mind. How many 20 year olds can say that? How many can say "I liked the Dom in Cologne better than the Duomo in Milan." My guess is not very many.
I think about the trip still everyday. And I know I will for the rest of my life. Just little instances that happen bring me back to the AIB, and Bonn, and Germany where I can remember me doing something that seemed so insignificant then, but so significant now.
I am so thankful for this trip and the people I've met.
I hope I've entertained you with all the stories and recollections I've had from this trip. Sorry for the sappy post on the the last blog ever. I'll end with a corny joke:
If your an American in the living room, what are you in the bathroom?
European.
Signing off.
Ryan
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