My time abroad in Freiburg

In particular, Freiburg is a beautiful place; in the winter there is snow, then comes rain, and in spring time the hills are green and the sun breaks through with warmth. Freiburg is a student town, the German culture is different; it's welcoming, a breath of fresh air, and eye opening. My time abroad, I always felt safe. I also had the opportunity to learn German, which is a goal that I have always wanted to fulfill. I got to participate in the Freiburg Marathon during April with a few of my friends as well as a few faculty members from the program. It was a lot of fun being able to run a 14km through Freiburg. This experience was great; having the people cheer me on as I ran through the city was welcoming, being a part of a team with my friends and professors, and challenging myself by running 14km without stopping and finally crossing that finish line was exhilarating. Furthermore, I got to participate in another run; Run For Europe. This was my favorite run because I got to run a 5K while running between the borders of Briesach Am Rhein, Baden- Wurttemberg, Germany and Ile de Rhin, France with my friends was amazing! I got to run with others who support a united Europe.
After having visited: Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Greece, Vatican City, Rome, Nice, Paris, Brussels, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Basel, Grindelwald, Feldberg, and Freiburg. You learn that there is so much to see, to experience, and that life is a constant journey in which one expands their perspective of the world. I learned that there is so much more to learn, to experience, to do, and to witness. You only get one life and it's your job to live it to the fullest. Since having studied abroad I now have a greater appreciation for the world , cultures, the people that make up each country, and the country's history.
My study abroad experience has helped me grow personally, academically, and as well as professionally. Personally, I have grown to be more confident, independent, assertive, and ambitious through the IES European Union Abroad Program. I am from Oceanside, California and my university is about forty-five minutes from my hometown. I am use to having my family close by and having studied abroad in Freiburg, Germany was a learning process for me. I remember when I first arrived in Germany; at first I was nervous having to say goodbye to my mom because I have always had my support system close by. It was through this marvelous program that I was able to grow to be more confident and ambitious. In my leadership course: Leading Across Political Cultures, I learned to be ambitious and assertive through taking on leadership roles in my course; in our third leadership workshop I volunteered to be a leader in which I was required to lead a group of my fellow students to the destination of our workshop all on my own. In addition for a water conference that we had for this course, I volunteered to be one of the three moderators that had the task of coordinating, organizing, and running the water conference.
Furthermore, this Spring semester I challenged myself to try new things and to push myself to do better in my courses. This particular semester abroad was at times demanding at first but as time went on I got use to the work load. The first week of classes was the intensive phase; in which we had one week to learn the basic history of the European Union as well as an intro to German before we had a trip to Berlin and Prague. The education system for studying abroad was a bit different, in my opinion there is more independence to work on your own, in addition spending time and taking classes with the same seventy students was a nice change. I enjoyed connecting and getting to know these people My home university has five thousand seven hundred and eleven undergraduate students; it was also convenient to have all of my courses in one building, as well as a library, a lounge room, and study rooms within the same building.
In addition to having grown personally and academically, I was able to grow professionally as well. Being a Political Science major and having taken courses that focus on the American government system, I wanted to learn more about the politics of the European Union. I enjoyed getting the chance to learn about European Integration and European Foreign Security and Policy Analysis. It is one aspect to learn about the countries that are in the European Union yet it is another aspect to be able to visit these countries, to apply the knowledge that you learn and to see firsthand the important issues and their impacts that they have on these countries. I loved learning about the Copenhagen criteria, integration, enlargement, the migration crisis, the high youth unemployment in some countries, and as well as other topics about the European Union and the member states.
After having visited the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Council. I had the goal of learning more about European politics and expanding my mind on international issues and U.S. relations with Europe. I accomplished this goal this spring semester. I want to attend law school after I complete my bachelors in Political Science and become a civil rights attorney. Having acquired more knowledge about the European Union I have become more aware of the importance to stay on top of current international issues. As a political science it is vital to be versatile and aware of domestic and international politics and the impact that issues and events have on a global scale.
I am thankful and fortunate that I was able to learn about the European Union, to have visited: Czech Republic, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Nederland's, Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany and during my stay in these countries see firsthand the issues that these countries face. Studying abroad is a once in a lifetime experience and it should be encouraged for all students to do. I am forever grateful for studying abroad and I have grown immensely because of it. It is due to studying abroad in Germany that I have a greater appreciation for the world, for politics, issues that affect the U.S. don't just affect us but they have global effects as well. Moreover, the most important aspect that I took with me from studying abroad is that we are just one speck on this earth; for there is so much more out in the world than we think there is. There is so much to learn and to share with others. Freiburg will always be a place I call home and if I didn't study abroad I would not have learned more, grown more, visited countries, cities, and met wonderful people. If you would like to learn more about the politics of the European Union, visit the institutions of the European Union, then I highly recommend studying abroad with IES through their European Union Program in Freiburg, Germany.