Mike
planned to study and travel abroad in high school and, in preparation for a trip, took four
years of German language. Then he postponed
his travel plans in order to graduate with friends. At the University
of Nebraska he continued studying German in addition to his engineering
courses. After doing research about traveling and studying abroad,
Mike finally made it to Germany during his sophomore year and attended
the Universitat Heidelberg. The decision to go to Germany had been
decided long ago: his father had been stationed there while in the
U.S. Army and relatives of the family still lived there.
Mike
left in March, on the day after his birthday, and after a brief
visit with his grandparents in Baltimore, Maryland, he flew on to
Frankfurt where he was met by relatives. He checked in at the Universitat
and since he was early for the beginning of the term, Mike was able
to join his relatives for a week of skiing in Südtirol, located
on the Austria-Italy border.
Once
back on campus, Mike attended a week of orientation for international
students and began the process of choosing classes. He decided to
take a break from studying engineering and chose courses in literature
and vocabulary. He also took courses in language and post-cold war
Germany at Max-Weber Haus, an Institute affiliated with the university.
He received 22 hours of German credits for his studies.
In
addition to traveling on his own during his four-and-a-half month
stay, Mike took part in day and weekend trips arranged through Akademische
Auslandsamt, the international affairs office at the university.
A week-long trip to Berlin was the culmination of the class on post-cold
war Germany. He also made it to Poland to attend a wedding and experienced
an 11-hour wedding reception in the former Soviet state.
One
of the strongest impressions from his trip was of all the international
students from Spain, Brazil, Africa, Italy, and more, coming together
and speaking German as a common language. Being an international
student gave him a new perspective on everyday activities back home.
Getting an outside look at our country was also an eye-opening experience.
Mike realized that our media depicts events in a certain way. That
approach was weighed against the opinions of European media about
America and provided another aspect of his education.
Mike's
scholarship transferred directly to cover costs. He had signed up
for a special international affairs waiver through N-Roll, and remained
a full-time student at UNL. Program fees not covered by his scholarship
were charged to his university account. His eventual goal is to
use both his engineering and German language in a career.
Mike
recommends studying abroad to everyone who is able to go. Foreign
language skills are not always necessary since so many programs
have classes in English. And the ultimate compliment for him as
a visitor? The people he met let him know that if he is ever in
their neighborhood, he will have a place to stay.
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| Gardens
outside The Residence in Würzburg. |
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| A
trip to Berlin and the Berlin Wall was the highlight of a class on
post-cold war Germany in which the students surveyed residents about
the effects of the wall on their lives. |
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