I've learned I still have a lot to learn (weeks 1-6)

For a lot of people, I am sure the "study" in the phrase "study abroad" is either overlooked, or terrifying. I do not relate with anyone who would choose to overlook the "study". One could travel to Europe, for probably less then we paid, and eat and drink and stay out late to your hearts content, without the stress of class the next morning. That is an option. It was an option for me. I could have just, come to Europe. But I chose to do a study abroad. I wanted to take this blog post to look back, and reflect, on the unique learning experience I have had these past 6 weeks. It has been a significant time in my life, and I want to process it with the respect it deserves.
Coming here, I was certainly nervous about having to learn. Would my brain be on summer mode and completely check out? Would I find it interesting? Would the work be too time consuming? Would I finish this summer already mentally exhausted before the school year has even begun? These were all questions on my mind.
The first day of class, always nerve racking. New learning environment, new classmates, new teacher, new material....it was a lot to get used to quickly. However, from the moment both of my teachers walked into the classroom, I knew I was in good hands.
At University, it is very common to have teachers who are only teaching so they can run research, and so their level of interest in their students can be low. I do not have those kind of teachers here.
Dr. Wasser will forever be one of my favorite teachers. Passionate does not even fully encompass how much he enjoys teaching what he does. His lectures are full of random song breaks, fun back stories, personal soliloquies, and even a few operatic performances. You don't just learn the material, you learn the material that EXPLAINS the material. You don't just hear about monks and plague doctors, you see them in real life as they give you tours (shout out Brother Jeremiah and Doctor S). He lectures about the places we visit, he TAKES us to where history has been made. It just feels....so different then normal school. That is the beauty of being Europe, a place that is far older the US. You don't just learn about history, you see it, you experience it. And that is priceless. Dr. Wasser is practically an encyclopedia,  on every topic we discuss, he's an expert. I loved the structure of his classes, it may have mostly been due to the time constraint, but he really did choose to focus on what he thought we would enjoy. The places he chose to take us to :the sauna, the Fools Tower, the anesthesiology museum, the anatomical wax museum, they were all locations designed for us, for medical students. The doctor shadowing as well, an amazing, unique experience, that you really could have only had here. How many people can say they have shadowed German doctors.
And Dr. Fajt. Oh my gosh, how lucky are we to not have one, but TWO extremely intelligent, caring, and fabulously sassy teachers! Dr. Fajt taught a different, but equally engaging class. It was less lecture based, and more interactive based. It was a lot of us reading articles, analyzing them, discussing them....it was learning in a different way. Learning by trial and error. It made pharmacology seem more approachable.  Dr. Fajt, like Dr. Wasser, was also an absolute sweetheart. Granted, we are basically on vacation so the situation is a little different, but she was entirely approachable, I actually ended up spending a decent amount of time in Nordeney with her. She was completely willing to talk about career interests, and options. Being experienced in veterinary medicine, I was particularly interested in talking with her, and hope to continue to be in contact with her (since her advice would probably be invaluable to me).
Overall, this learning experience was truly priceless. I feel so incredibly honored to have been able to be a part of this. Our teachers were dedicated, energetic, relate-able, open and treated us with respect as students. We didn't just sit in a stuffy classroom (well....it was stuffy, fans can only do so much) and listen to hours and hours of monotone lessons, only to be asked in an unreasonable amount of time to regurgitate whatever facts we could scramble to recall. We were encouraged to pose questions, to walk among the sites of real history, and most importantly, to truly enjoy what we were  learning. Honestly, it didn't even feel like learning. They covered many things I knew, but also many things that I never even thought to ask. Learning about history, really makes you appreciate where we stand today. While on this study abroad, I have learned that I still have a lot to learn. And that will never not be true. There is always more out there available to us. But if I seize my opportunities, like this study abroad, grasping new knowledge won't seem so daunting.