A Feeling of Nostalgia

The Summer Program in Germany was too wonderful to put in words. Looking back at all of our travels, from Heidelberg to Bremen to Köln to Potsdam and many other places, I’m thankful for all the things I got to see and experience. I even got to visit Paris with some of my friends! I had to constantly pinch myself because everything felt so surreal.

I think Berlin is a place I grew accustomed to calling home. After six weeks, of our statics and dynamics class with Professors Nielsen and DeRooy along with our German class, friendships that were built over memorable times in the ‘M19 bus’, struggling to maintain a conversation in purely German, and stuffing myself with the oh so delicious currywurst and döner kebab; I believe it’s safe to say that the word ‘truss’ will forever be ingrained in my memory thanks to our professors and that this program was one of the best experiences of my life.

Elevator Speech

So I was in Germany for 6 weeks and it was such a great experience. It was not just for vacation but we also took a class called Engineering 202. Every morning around 8:30 we would have class until the early afternoon, stop for a quick lunch break and then have German classes in the afternoon. On the weekends we would travel to different cities in Germany. It was amazing learning about a different culture and also experiencing the history that was in each city.

On the last week of our trip we were allowed to travel where ever we wanted in Europe and I decided to go visit my brother in Paris. It was so lovely spending time with family and I even got to meet up with some of the girls and we went to DisneyLand!

Overall the trip was amazing and I would recommend future engineers at Calvin to go on this trip because you will  not regret it.

Martin Luther

Learning about Martin Luther was very interesting. I had learned about him before in my high school years but actually being at the place where it all began for him was crazy. It was surreal because I learned about a lot of the things  I saw when I was younger. It was also interesting to know that his wife ran the household mostly. It just shows how big of a part women sometimes had. His house was beautiful and bigger than I expected. There was a lot to take in but I enjoyed it very much.

Concentration Camp and the Holocaust museum

Visiting the concentration camp and going to the holocaust museum was one of the best things I did during this trip. They both are place riddled with sadness and pain but I think it is important to remember that history. What happened was horrible and we need to be aware of that so that it doesn’t happen again in the future and to pay respect to those who were victims.

There was this one room in the holocaust museum that was called the Name Room i think. In this room there were white benches scattered around an empty room. On the plane white walls were projections. One by one, a name of a victim was shown on the walls and a little story of their background was told. I could have stayed in that room all day. The Jews were made to feel as if they were nothing, that their lives meant nothing, but they weren’t and sitting in that room made me feel like I was showing them somehow that their lives did matter. That we still think of them today and the struggles they had to go through.

First Thoughts

I came on this Germany trip to experience something new. I thought it would such a great opportunity to study in a different country for 6 weeks! In the class I hoped to learn more about Statistics and Dynamic, especially how it would be applied to real life. My prayer for this summer program was everyone to have a great time. Learn, and experience new things. Germany is such a great country, I just wanted everyone to have fun and immerse themselves in the culture.

Elevator speech

This summer was one of the best summers of my life! I have always loved the idea of being able to travel and this trip helped me fulfill that dream. We traveled to many different cities around Germany, and I was also able to travel to Paris for a short weekend! Looking back at the trip, I can’t believe all of the amazing things I was able to see and experience. Although the idea of figuring out a transportation system around a different country seemed daunting at first, it was much easier than I could have ever guessed. We saw many different churches, castles, and museums which helped me learn about the history of Germany and admire its beauty through everything it has been through. One of my favorite things about Germany and something I will definitely miss is its food. After two weeks of being back home, I am sure I will be craving currywurst or döners! Being able to experience a new culture gave me the desire to travel even more, and I will forever be grateful for this opportunity and experience. Tschüss!