There aren't many days since we left Vienna that I haven’t found
myself thinking that I wish I could go back, that I was still in Germany—especially
every Tuesday and Thursday when I sit through my German class. As the stresses of this semester continue to
pile on, I would trade my car for a flight back to Germany to continue studying
there—well my car might be exaggerating a bit, but I would definitely rather
still be abroad than wrestling with biochemistry.
In my German course this semester the focus is on
contemporary issues and life in Germany, but there does not seem to be any that
can even begin to be discussed without first thoroughly considering their past
and history and how it affects life in Germany today. So many topics we have covered thus far
relate at least in part to some new knowledge that Dr. Wasser so kindly
imparted on us or a museum, city, or place that we visited. I had no idea prior to the trip that it would
correlate so closely with my course, but I love being able to sit in class and connect
all of these ideas about contemporary Germany not only with the weekly German
films and readings but also with what I learned abroad this winter. There was a tempting opportunity for anyone
in the class to travel to Berlin the first week of April—I will not going, partly
because I was just there, a lot of the itinerary was covered on our trip, and
my course load is much too demanding to miss an entire week of school, but also
because let’s face it my class is not nearly as much fun as the group we
had. All of the INTS students who have
traveled with Dr. Shandley before swear that you will never do more walking in
your life, but I refuse to believe that they walked more than we did with our
always-on-the-go itinerary. (And I think
Savannah’s pedometer has all of the proof needed.)
As I try to think back to everything we did and experienced
in Germany, my memories are filled with an abundance of medicine and German history
and culture, but I find it most curious that I took a trip abroad and came back
with a more thorough understanding of some contemporary American issues—most specifically
our healthcare system and its looming reforms.
I’m a lot more knowledgeable about how our current system works, and some
of the details of the changes which Obamacare represents are much more clear— information
that I most likely would not have taken much time to become familiar with on my
own. And although I am not going into
the human medical field, I still find it important for individuals in the
country to be well informed on such large prospective changes and am confident
that I can now at least hold an intelligent conversation on the topic. As far as all of the excursions revolving
around the history of medicine, a lot of it still remains relevant to things
that I am studying in veterinary medicine and makes me eager to put my
education to more practical use in the field.
I am probably correct in assuming that I had my first and probably last
opportunity to scrub in on a human surgery on this program, and I think that the
open heart surgery will always be one of the coolest things I’ve ever
witnessed.
After spending those brief weeks abroad, I have definitely
come to a greater appreciation of free water, refills, and restrooms. The
Germans are seriously deprived of some good mac and cheese, but I loved how
easily accessible and affordable public transportation was, and the historical buildings
and city sights are far more appealing than the endless College Station construction. I’ve been to Germany once
before, but this experience was by far the better of the two, and I think that
faculty-led programs are one of the best ways to first experience a different
country and study abroad. This program
was a fantastic opportunity to learn and explore all while being in the company
of someone who knows the country and customs much better, and with this
experience I’d feel much more comfortable going back to Germany on my own. It’s instilled in me a stronger desire to
live abroad for a more extended period of time at some point in my life and
also resurfaced the aspiration of working harder to become more fluent in the
language. I constantly find myself
wishing that I would have studied in Germany for an entire semester, but I
suppose if I choose not to graduate a semester early in the Fall I still could. Such decisions. . .
Thank you Dr. Wasser and Olaf for a great time!
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