Retrospective Post

 

The four months I spent in Germany were the first I’ve ever spent outside of the United States, and the longest I’ve ever been away from home. It forced me to be independent in a way I haven’t fully been able to experience before. College Station is only a two-hour drive away from my family, and moving an ocean away was really scary. I applied and committed to this program in a short period of time, so I didn’t have very long to prepare or learn the language. I struggled with the language barrier for a while, but it really forced me to go out of my comfort zone and be more confident in trying to communicate with other people. Living in another country comes with its challenges, but this pushed me to remain flexible and resilient in my everyday life because I could never predict what I would encounter with every new day.

This program really reignited my desire to learn for the sake of learning. Especially in a world where we tend to study for grades and academic success, it was refreshing to be excited about learning for fun. Living in Germany has also made me more aware of my efforts to continue to grow and learn about the world throughout my entire life. Through high school, I had a teacher who always would say that “different doesn’t mean worse” and I never fully took that to heart until traveling abroad. The world is so much more than the little corner of Texas that we live in and being set in one way of living is severely limiting, especially in engineering. As a biomedical engineer, my goal is to help the world as a whole, which is so much easier and so much more impactful if we truly get to know the world around us.