Pre-Departure

Just like everyone who’s ever studied abroad before told me, my way to Tübingen has been a year long process paved with endless paperwork and emails. I officially chose to study abroad here last March after considering the University of Leipzig, where my home school, Mount Holyoke, offers a program, as well as the other BW programs offered by UMass.

Conceptually, I’ve been making the decision to commit to study in Germany over and over again since 7th grade, when I started learning the language. Since then, I’ve participated in a  exchange program with a Gymnasium near Göttingen and hit a few major cities on a fairly chaperoned 3 week excursion.  This time, I chose Tübingen as an alternative to my time in Northern Germany and as a chance to undertake a more independent experience. Based on past study abroad blogs and MHC students who also participated in UMass programs, Tübingen seemed like an appropriate place to receive some support while abroad, while also figuring out everything from buying groceries to traveling around Germany by myself.

I know Tübingen is considered a “diverse” university city, but I am curious how this is similar or different from my past liberal arts college experience. Will it be multicultural solely on the surface or in a committed way? How does German academia investigate/parse societal problems? I expect to learn more about methods of “German” literary analysis (as opposed to those favored in  American universities) and to prepare for more independent work.  After browsing the course catalog for English department courses,  I’ve found a lot of fresh, different courses than MHC!  In regard to language learning, I  anticipate my German courses to be immersive and tough, but I’m excited because I feel I’ve plateaued a bit in my language progress in the past year.

While I’m glad to be leaving behind my MHC comfort zone,  I’m also naturally apprehensive about distancing myself from my friends, favorite library study spots and of course, my dog.  I also know I’ll be physically leaving America and our rising populism, but am not naively optimistic and expect a similar political climate in Germany, especially with the right wing AfD’s showing in the polls in the 2017 election. I think it will be interesting to see connections between the countries, but also observe America from a distance.

Essentially, I’m ready to be back in classes and a little nervous in Tübingen, rather than on a long vacation in Massachusetts!