I would call it Life Changing

Hallo for the very last time!

I think this blog will be easy to write because lately, it’s been hitting me that I am no longer in Germany and it really hurts. Although a lot of the same people will be coming back to College Station with me in the fall, I miss all the other things like my host family, the huge floor in the attic that I was lucky enough to call my room, the city, and the period of self-growth that was part of this Hero’s Journey.

Before coming to Germany, I’ll admit that I felt a bit lost. I was looking into transferring schools, I felt that the job I had been at for 2 years was boring and not something I was passionate about, and that my friends just didn’t have the same lust for adventure and change as I did. But then I went to Germany and all these feelings went away. I was in a place where I was truly happy and it made waking up everyday something to be excited about. I had so much energy that even on the “boring” days of going to class, I was still having a great time. I cannot recall a single moment of being in Germany where I felt like I did not feel at home and was lacking happiness. Every day felt absolutely perfect.

Coming back to College Station was difficult, for sure. I went back to the same stressful job, saw the same old friends from high school, and moved back into the same tiny apartment. It was like nothing had changed around me, but I, myself, felt like a completely different person. This was the hardest part about coming back. Everything felt so similar and mundane, that it felt like my whole experience in Germany was just a dream. But every day, I am thankful that I got to live out this dream, because it was truly the best time of my life so far.

I reflect on my time in Germany every day. When I’m in the car listening to music and a song pops up that I first heard of in Europe, it brings me back to sitting on the 66 tram and listening to the song while gazing out of the window at the Rhine River. Other days I think of my host family and so I text them to catch up and see how they are doing. They have a lot of big plans to travel and they said it was because of me. I told them how great Budapest was after I had visited and now they are visiting in July- I was ecstatic to hear I had made a mark on them and influenced them even after I had left.

I remember being in class and being captivated learning about physiology and how the body works and actually asking questions which I never used to do. I also remember Hilde teaching us German numbers and making us march around the classroom singing silly songs and the day that it first snowed outside and everyone was late to class. All of these experiences that are so seemingly normal compared to all of the traveling that took place, yet they are memories that stand out to me and leave me feeling happy and astoundingly grateful for my time abroad.

Now that I am back, I have already found a new job that brings me bliss. It is a job that I had planned on getting while abroad which is working at a coffee shop. I thought that while I am young, I would like to do things that make me Happy and being bored or hating a job, yet being so common in society today, is unnecessary. It is our own choice what we decide to do with our lives and we miss out on happy experiences thinking they will come in the future. We should strive for them now.

Germany also opened my eyes to so many other options for what to do next. I never really knew what I wanted after I graduated from A&M, I just knew that I didn’t want to stay where I was. I had plans to move back to England, but now I want to start my own life in Deutschland. I have plans to apply for an internship at Bayer and apply to other graduate school programs in the country. I am so excited that I finally found a place that feels exciting and empowers me to work hard and be my own person that I feel this last year gives me something to look forward to in the future but I also know that I have things to look forward to in the here and now.

To describe in a few words how this study abroad trip to Germany was for me, I would call it Life Changing. I have never felt so passionate about an experience in my life and so grateful for all of the memories and friends that I made while I was there. I continue to talk with so many of the students from the trip every day like Lexie, Kate and Mitchell, and even have plans to live with Austin and Katie next year, which I couldn’t be more thrilled for. I would even say I have made some of my best friends studying abroad. I know I also made life-long friendships with my host family as well, who I know I will undoubtedly see again in the near future, and other people from around the world whom I met on weekend trips to other countries. It’s absolutely amazing!

 I know if I go back to Germany it will be a different experience, but I am so ready to start my adult life somewhere new and wonderful, that I will be eager to work hard every day and make sure I can stay there. As for plans past the next 5 years, I will go where life takes me. I’d love to travel more of my favorite continent and go back to visit Budapest and Croatia, but I am completely satisfied with how my life is shaping up at this point in time and I have all of that to thank to this semester abroad and A&M university for helping me get there. I know many other universities do not give the same kind of financial aid to their students for opportunities abroad, and I certainly could not have done it on my own. For that, I am truly grateful. 

Vielen Dank, Germany. You were my dream come true. Thank you for giving my life a new sense of purpose and opening up my heart to new things and I look forward to seeing you once again. And Vielen Dank to everyone who added to my amazing experience abroad like Dr. Wasser, my host family, and all the new faces I met along the way. It was all the great people who surrounded me that made being in the beautiful country and traveling that incredible continent even more magnificent. Even though the Hero's Journey in Germany this semester has ended, it feels like the good stuff is only just beginning and I can’t wait to see what my future will bring J

Tschüss ♡