My College Experience

When I first moved here, I only had a brief idea about how high school and college work. They were completely different systems than I was used to...it was all Greek to me. I'd never had a locker, the same classes every day or the ability to drive to school in my own car and have a parking space. After looking into college and what I wanted to major in, I didn't even know what a credit hour was. I really had no clue.

I spent the first several months in the US talking to people at the school's financial aid office, which was a complete nightmare. Since my parents were overseas and not supporting me financially, I had to apply for financial aid in order to pay for my books and tuition. Because of all of these "special circumstances", I had to have someone at the Financial Aid office actually fill out my FAFSA (The Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for me, in order to get any financial aid in the first place, since none of my given information was being accepted. I believe the FAFSA didn't even give me the option to list a foreign country as a place I'd previously lived.

I spent the longest time doing "research" and broadening my knowledge about college and which grants and scholarships I'd be eligible for. 

I have now started my third semester in college, and am in the DMAD (Digital Media Arts and Design) program. Although the classes are VERY demanding and time consuming, I absolutely love the program - the classes have taught me so much and our main instructor is just awesome. This is just a general idea of what a weekday in my life as a college student looks like:

8:45 AM Alarm goes off, usually playing Nirvana or Sublime. I press the snooze button.

8:54 AM Alarm reminds me again to get up. I press the snooze button.

9:03 AM "I'll just press snooze one more time..." Z...z...z...

9:12 AM "I'll get up in fifteen seconds. one...two...three...four...five....six...seven...eight...nine...ten...eleven...twelve...thirteen...fourteen...fifteen...fifteen...fifteen...fifteen..."

9:15 - 9:40 AM I roll out of bed and creep to the bathroom, get dressed and ready for the day. I try to force down a banana and finish packing up my backpack.

9:40 - 9:45 AM "WHERE are my F***ING KEYS?!"

9:45 - 9:55 AM I drive to school and chat with Mike...usually about the drivers who have apparently gotten their license out of a gumball machine at the mall. 

10:00 - 4:20 AM/PM Sitting in class, (minus the lunch break in between the first and second class, which I spend at home with Mike watching South Park) usually wishing I hadn't put in contacts, since I would spend the majority of the day staring at a computer screen. Luckily, most all of the time, the classes I take require less verbal and more physical participation, which means I can listen while drifting off into my world of imagination and creativity and not have to worry about getting in trouble for it. I remember the times when doodling or drawing in class as an absolute no. Now, it is encouraged, as long as it is along the lines of what is being taught and discussed. 

On Mondays and Wednesdays I only have one two hour class from 10 AM to noon, so afterwards I use that time to do some homework or skype with friends or family overseas when I can. 

4:30 - 6:30 PM "Free Time". This doesn't mean I can do whatever the hell I want. It means I can choose freely in what order I want to do what. It can be anything from homework (which it most always is) to running errands. On occasion, I will spend time with a friend, but that is fairly rare during the semester. Unless on vacation, in most all cases this time is spent doing homework, since we have so much of it. When I have several projects at the same time, I usually have just enough time to use the bathroom in between. Sleeping is kept to a minimum and eating meals usually takes place while I'm working. There are some days that I spend around 6 hours or more on homework, because I will not allow myself to do "the bare minimum." If I am not happy with a project, I won't stop working until I am certain I will get an A.

6:30 - 7:30 PM Either go out to grab dinner with Mike and his family or eat dinner at the house. Sometimes even eat dinner while I'm working, as I mentioned before.

7:30 - ??? PM/AM I take this time to continue my homework or other side projects. As you can tell, I am not at ALL a morning person, so this time of day is actually when I work best. My mind is most active and I like the peace and quiet at night. If I happen to have finished everything I need to get done for the day, Mike and I watch a movie together or I curl up and read a book before bedtime.

On Weekends, often times our instructors give us big assignments, so I spend the time I have all day to work on a project in one sitting. When I am really on a roll, I have a hard time quitting what I am doing. I just want to keep working until I'm done. So if I need to sit down for 8 or more hours at a time, the weekend is really good for that. When I can, I do like to get out a little bit and see some friends or go to Mike's band practice with him. I also like to spend my weekends getting caught up on the sleep I lost in the past week from being up until all hours of the night or pulling all-nighters doing homework.

I've found that time in college can be a great mixture of things:

It can be a fresh start: Generally, you won't know anyone at all when going to college, so you will have a completely clean slate. Nobody will know that you're the one who passed out in gym class or that you were once a band geek with braces. It will be an opportunity to meet new people and start from scratch. You will also be able to find new groups of people, who share your interests and goals; people you can really relate to and who can also really relate to you.  

It can be a great and important experience: You will finally be able to figure out which direction you want to go and who you really are. You will be able to express yourself in many ways you weren't able to before. If you are staying in a dorm at a four year college, you will often times encounter things you never have before, since you've (in most cases) been dependent on other people all your life, so you will learn what amount of detergent you need for a load of laundry, not to put aluminum foil in the microwave and why your parents were so anal about you not staying up until all hours of the night. 

It can be a challenge: With all this new freedom, you are now responsible to discipline yourself. You need to know for yourself if it's okay to stay up until 3 AM or if you can afford to go to that big party instead of putting off studying or homework. It's a time of trial and error. Some people are better prepared from previous experiences and some people are just learning.

From my experience: College is not a big party. It is not like it is in those cheesy American teen movies about parties, relationships, sororities and fraternities. College is some serious business. That of course doesn't mean that you can't have fun or go to a party once in a while. But if you came to college to Party, good luck finding a job. In all seriousness. If you really want a degree and good grades and perhaps even to be on honor roll, you are going to be sitting at your desk on your butt studying and doing homework the majority of your time spent in college. And trust me, it pays off and it feels really good to see your high GPA after all that hard work.

College has also really helped me learn that when I have my mind set to something, I am capable of much more than I was aware of. I am a much happier person than I was before I started college, because I have found something I am really good at. Taking classes that I enjoy and have talent in really give me hope and let me shine in a way that I wasn't able to while taking classes I hated back in "high school". 

I am sure that my experiences are much different from yours. This is only my perspective. How is/was your college experience? What did you love, what did you hate? If you aren't in college anymore, is there anything you miss or don't miss so much? What was/were the most important lessons your learned while in college? Feel free to comment. :)

German School Systems

I have been asked so many times by so many people how exactly the German school systems work. I am sure it is a little different in every "Bezirk" (State), but this is how it was for me when I went to school there.

The public state-run schools are free, but charges and fees for books and general materials throughout the year do come up. Going to school from first to at least ninth grade is mandatory and there is no homeschooling in Germany. You generally start out with Kindergarten, which is more like Preschool in the United States. It is not required and you don't really learn anything.

Then you enter the Grundschule (Primary School), which lasts from 1st to fourth grade. You begin to learn English from first grade all the way until graduation. In first and second grade, you don't receive grades. In fourth grade, the grades you make will depend on which secondary school you are placed into for fifth grade until you graduate. If you grades aren't good enough to make it into the higher schools, you can take qualifying exams. If you pass, you're in, if not, you're out. That simple.

Secondary education in Germany is split up into three levels. The Hauptschule (secondary general school: prepares you for employment and ends with the Hauptschulabschluss dipoma after ninth or tenth grade, depending on which type of diploma you are on track to getting),
the Realschule (intermediate school: more intense and prepares you for either a further school to eventually lead to University or employment and leads to the Mittlere Reife after tenth grade) and the Gymnasium (grammar school: prepares you for University, ending with the Abitur diploma after twelfth or thirteenth grade).

• If you end up in the Hauptschule, and your grades are good enough in the first year, you can be placed either in the Realschule or Gymnasium, which requires repeating the fifth grade. You also have the opportunity to take the exams again. If your grades are good in sixth grade, you have one last shot at the Realschule, but no longer the Gymnasium. Most people I know who got the general Hauptschulabschluss ended up working as craftsmen (mechanic, carpenter, brick layer etc.), but some also went on to the Berufsschule (job school), where you receive training and education at companies and part time vocational schools. However, there are two types of grade 10: one is the higher level called type 10b and the lower level is called type 10a; only the higher level type 10b can lead to the Realschule and this finishes with the final examination Mittlere Reife after grade 10b.

• In the Realschule, you are required to choose an education track in seventh grade: math, art, language and business, which will offer you specific classes to your interest. After graduation, you generally continue on to the Fachoberschule (Vocational upper secondary school), which can lead to University.

• In the Gymnasium, you are required to chose a second foreign language (French, Latin, Italian etc.) in sixth grade, which you will take until you graduate.

A day in the life of a student:

School generally starts at around 8 AM. You go to your homeroom, where you will have all your classes with the same people in the same seat. (Acception: classes that can't be taken in a homeroom such as chemistry or PE) Your class schedule is different every day and takes a little while to memorize. Each class is generally around 45 minutes. After your first three classes of the day, you have a "Pause" (recess and snack time). In the Grundschule, it is about half an hour long and it secondary school, it is about fifteen minutes. There is usually a small area where bread, sandwiches, pastries, snacks and drinks are sold during this time. After the Pause, you have between one and three more classes before going home. If extra curricular classes are offered after school, such as band, volleyball or french conversation, you have an hour lunch break where you can either bring your own lunch or eat in the cafeteria.
After school, you come home, eat lunch (which in Germany is generally a hot meal, like the American dinner) and have an hour long "Ruhezeit" (quiet time). During this time, most stores are closed for a few hours and you aren't allowed to play loud music or make a lot of noise and disturb your neighbors. This time is mainly used for resting and napping. Homework and studying takes about as much time as it would in America.

Other little differences about the school systems:

• at the beginning of every class/day with a teacher, the whole class stands up and chants "Gu-ten-Mor-gen-Frau/Herr-___".
• in the Grundschule, you wear house shoes/slippers in the classroom. There is usually a place to hang coats and put shoes either inside or right outside the classroom
• throughout school, you either have a Catholic, Evangelic or Ethic religion class, which is required.
• when you raise your hand, you raise as if you were to tell your teacher you need to use the restroom; with one finger pointed up.
• from first through fourth grade, you are required to use special lined paper, to teach you correct penmanship
• from first through fourth grade, you are required to use only blue-inked fountain pen
• pencil is not allowed for ANYTHING but art class in Germany. Even math. If you need to erase something, you are recommended to cross it through with a ruler or use a special fountain pen eraser. Wite-out is discouraged.
• German school desks seat two people. They are long and have two spots underneath to put things under the desk. It is a smart thing to pair up with a pal quick or arrive early on the first day of school, because in most cases, you will be stuck there all year and not be allowed to switch.
• dress code is not very strict in Germany. Of course, there are limits; you shouldn't be walking to school in a mini skirt and a tube top on a daily basis, but you aren't going to get in trouble for crazy hair, a lip ring or ripped jeans.
• there are no hall passes. If you need to go to the bathroom, raise your hand and ask. Most teachers are okay with it.
• there are no lockers. Since you are generally in the same room all day, you have no need for one. You can leave things under your desk or at your seat. The risk of anything being taken is very slim...theft is not bad an issue in Germany as it is in the states.
• there is no student parking. Since you have to be eighteen to get a license in Europe, student parking isn't very necessary. If you do, however, have your own transportation besides a bike, such as a scooter, you're going to have to find your own parking spot.
• chalkboards aren't mounted to the wall. They can be adjusted up and down and even open up. Certain parts of the chalkboard are even with normal lines or graphing lines. They are not cleared off with American erasers. In Germany, you use a wet sponge and a squeegee. Most classrooms come with a sink and a mirror to clean the chalkboard and wash hands. (Germans are very hygienic people...and the girls love to crowd around the mirror between classes to retouch their makeup ;D)