Thoughts Before Germany

Last summer I was in Italy for my class’s senior trip. Two of my friends and I stayed in Europe for an extra week after my class flew home, during which time we explored the Austria Alps as well as the museums and sights in Munich. Not surprisingly, I was not ready to leave Germany after the week expired.

I already knew about the Summer Program in Germany offered by Calvin, because my sister participated in it while she was a student. After I left Germany, I knew that I had to go on this trip. I wanted to return to the pleasant weather, many parks and museums, and the good food. I genuinely enjoy the pace of living and the abundance of culture that I saw in Germany. I hope now that since I will be taking a class over there, that I would get the full experience of what it is like to live and work in Germany.

I hope to get many things out of this course. I hope that the German culture section of the trip will allow me to expand my views of how other people live and think. I also hope to practice my German so it becomes at least useful, at most tolerably good. I also hope that this course would allow me to discover whether I want to enter Mechanical or Civil engineering. I think the most valuable asset for this last goal is time spent with the professors. I aim to speak with them about how I should go about choosing a concentration. My last goal would obviously be to do well in the class.

I think that one strength that I have that I could lend to the group would be my ability to get along with nearly anyone. Now, I do not mean this in a haughty way, but rather I have genuinely noticed that I can usually find something to talk about with almost anyone. If I can’t find something, then usually I can interact with people using humor. I hope to use this to help the group mesh and bond together.

I ask that people would pray that we have nice weather to enjoy, that there would not be any sickness or injury, that the group would work well together, that we would be diligent and do well in our studies, and that we would represent Calvin well and most importantly represent Christ well.

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