Biosciences Bonn: Torture on Steroids (A Bittersweet Recollection)

Bonn, Germany

April 24th - 30th

One word sums up this week perfectly, finals. All of the normal amounts of blood, sweat, and tears, one typically experiences when finals arrive was present plus more. I had 4 tests in three days along with two reports due this week. To say this week was torture is an understatement; it was torture on steroids. I had never felt so ill prepared for finals in my life and learned some valuable lessons with this exposure to sheer struggle. One: it wouldn't be bad to begin studying a month in advance even if it is just doing something brainless like copying notes into a review sheet. Two: time management is prudent. This is something I have struggled with my whole life and I hope that one day I will be able to conquer this enemy. Each moment I struggle with time management is another moment toward figuring out how to conquer it. Three: procrastination is killer (known this for a while though). Four: having to teach yourself the whole class curriculum is a struggle within itself and the best way to approach this one is while completing the required assignments, actually try and learn the material instead of copying answers that way when the test comes around you're not having to teach everything to yourself the week, the day, or the night before. Five: it's okay to have fun while intensely studying so you don't go insane. Finals went okay and could have gone better but it's over and there's not much I can do now except move forward from her and treat this a learning experience.

Remagen, Germany

April 28th

To end this week of intensely studying and pulling our hair out, we got to go to Remagen where we went on a tour in a Peace Museum that was formally part of the Remagen Bridge when the bridge was still standing. Our tour guide was previously a mayor of Remagen and he told us about the history of the bridge and its significance in World War II. To have a man of 88 who was previously a mayor give us a tour of the bridge put everything more into perspective for me. He was a man of wisdom and the things he saw and experienced is something my 20 year old mind can't wrap around because I have not been a child of war. Dr. Wasser had put it best. If you are a child or person of war, you experience the hardship first hand and understand the consequences that arise with it. Having this knowledge shows you the wise choice is to not proceed with blowing everyone and everything up because of confrontation. Where as if you haven't experienced the outcomes of war, you become trigger happy and think war will solve problems with one movement of a finger without understanding the dire consequences that will be accompanied with these choices. Of course this isn't exactly what he said because what he said was more eloquently put, but it was something along these lines. This proclamation really got me thinking and opened my eyes to reality of the world we live. Patience and compromise make for a excellent way of solving confrontations, not guns, bombs, and nuclear weapons.

A Bittersweet Recollection

Another round of finals is over and my sophomore year has officially come to an end, along with my Germany experience. I am now technically half way through my undergraduate adventure (although I am considering delaying my graduation a semester), and I am now an upper-class man. It astounds me just how fast time has flown by. I can still remember moving to College Station and starting my first week of classes and more importantly, I can remember sitting in the airport in Houston crying (who really knows why I was...stress mixed with overwhelming anxiety was probably the reason for my eyes and body to think it was okay to fall a part), about to board a plane that was headed to Frankfurt, like it was yesterday. I can remember how I froze the moment we exited the airport because it was super cold, and I can remember the first time I met Astrid and her family, scared out of my mind while wondering what I got myself into. I got myself into an experience of lifetime that has and will continue to shape me forever. I have met so many amazing people and overcome some of my internal fears and struggles while discovering who the real Kimberly Branan is one piece at a time. There is so much I want to take back to the states and implement into my life, both big and small, there are lots of people I hope to see again after this trip and continue to be friends with, and lastly, there is path of life that I now wish travel down. Even though I will go back to the states and Germany will feel like nothing but a dream in the next couple of months, it will be a dream I will hold dear to my heart and cherish for the rest of my life. Everyone I have met while on this trip has impacted and shaped me in way, whether they have shown me what I want in my life, shown me the kind of person I want to be, shown me what not to do and the kind of person I don't want to be, guided me toward understanding, mentored me through a life changing experience, been my sounding board, an ear to listen to the occasional rant, someone to relate to and ask real world questions, or have become one of my friends.

I want to thank everyone on this trip for making it as special as it was. I wouldn't trade a single person for the world. I also want to thank my incredible professors and TAs who without I wouldn't have been able to make it through this semester in one piece. And lastly, I want to thank everyone who has supported and helped me to be able to have gone to Germany in the first place. If it weren't for all of you, this life-changing experience wouldn't have become a reality.

This is my last blog post since there are three more official days on this trip, but I won't be leaving Europe for another two weeks. My mother is coming on Wednesday, the official end date of this trip, and we are going to discover more of what Europe has to offer. The adventure will continue but my Germany experience has come to an end along with this blog. Thank you all for reading. It has been a joy to be able to share my journey with you.