My College Years

I am almost done with university. Well, if having to do one more semester counts as almost. I'm through with all my classes. Now all I have to do is write three more papers and one thesis and take an oral exam- If everything goes well, I'll be getting my Master's degree next spring. On one hand I'm a bit nervous because when I stop being a student, I will finally have to figure out what else to do with my life. But on the other hand I'm glad that my college years are coming to an end. Though they were mostly awesome, I've studied alltogether for almost nine years (with many breaks and detours) and at some point it's just enough.

I got my High School diploma in 2009 and started studying immediatly after. I always dreamed of being a student. When I was a teenager I looked up to the students I knew because they seemed so mature and independent and cool, they always went to parties and discussed important topics. I wanted to be like that. I waned to have a legendary univeristy experience. And it truly was pretty epic.

I started studying European Studies in a little town in South Germany, but I couldn't have cared less for my classes. I was all about the college life. In 2009 there was a huge student protest movement in Germany and all over Europe against the new Bachelor/Master system, against tuitions and more - and I was in the middle of it. We occupied the biggest lecture hall and it was so much fun. But we also were serious about our fight. We did so many cool things, performances, strikes, demonstrations, art, everything. I loved it. I had a protest blog and because of a university intern scandal I found out about and which I wrote about, my blog blew up. Many people were not happy with my involvement but I stood up for what I believed in. I also critizised the official university blog for being too one-sided, till the editor asked me to write for it, to make it more diverse. My whole job was pretty much pointing out all the flaws in the systems. It was so much fun. We also reached some of our goals: attendance at the classes was not mandatory anymore and the university counsel got another student representative. Also years later the tuition was abolished.

But with all the protesting, obviously I was way behind with my classes. I think in the end of the semester I took only one exam. Besides protesting, I also really liked to party. I went out with friends most nights, stayed out till the early morning hours and slept till the afternoon. Those truly were the easy times.

In my very first week at university I met my best college friend who later became my roommate. It was pretty much friendship at first sight. We bonded on similar levels of craziness and got along instantly. At the end of my first semester I found out that I had to move out of my room like the next day. I didn't know where to go, so my friend suggested I move into her room. We changed apartments once more during our Bachelor years but we shared a room for the rest of the time. In Germany this is not common at all. People thought it was strange that we lived in the same room, there were many rumors about us, including that we're a lesbian couple. Rumors and gossip was a huge deal in that small university town anyway. It was a pretty conservative catholic town, so that every little wild move was a big deal.

After my first semester, I decided to change my major. I realized that the only subject of European Studies which interested me was Politics, so I changed to Governance and Public Policy which was much more up my sleeve. Which didn't mean that I got any better in actually attending classes in my second semester. I was still very ative in protest groups. Also I was dating a guy living in Berlin at this time and skipped school to visit him. For a couple of months I was head over heals for him but it soon faded. Deep down I still believed that love is a scam.

Then my first big summer break came and it too was epic. I spend two weeks in San Francisco with my best childhood friend. It was such a magical time and I fell in love with this city. San Francisco is still my favourite city on this planet and I can't wait to go back there. I also went on an Interrail trip with an old High School friend who is still my best friend after all these years. We traveled around Europe for one month, always traveling by train, staying at friends', in Hostels or camping. This was such a sensational trip. We went to Milano, Cannes, Arles, Bordeaux, Paris, London and Exeter. Our planning wasn't the best and many things went wrong but the spontanity and unpredictability of the trip was also exiting. We had the time of our lives and I could write an entire post about this trip.

After summer break, everything seemed a bit dull back at my university. I broke up with the guy I was seeing. The protests quieted down. Also I was really getting into problems because I was so behind with my studies. I didn't reach the minium points which you were supposed to have in your third semester and they wanted to kick me out. But I talked with my professor and he put in a good word for me to give me another chance. However I knew I had to speed up a bit.

We moved into another apartment, away from the ghetto with creepy neighbors we lived in before into the old town which was so much better. Still I somehow had enough of school for the moment. So I took two vacation semesters and got out of there.

I moved back to my hometown and did several jobs. First I worked for an online portal and wrote about shops etc. in my town which was awesome. Then I did an internship at a big Germany newspaper but I didn't like it and quit. Then I worked for an advertisement company which was alright.

I dreamed of studying abroad. Originally I wanted to go to Great Britain but they told me I would have no chance there with my crappy marks and I should try the US where there are more universities to choose from. I applied for a partner program from my university with the University of South Alabama but I wasn't accepted. Then my professor sent me infos on another program with the Western Michigan University and I was accepted there. I was beyond happy! In August 2011 I finally made my way across the Atlantic Ocean.

My exchange semester truly was everything. It was fun and scary and interesting and overwhelming and magical and life-changing. I took writing classes which was awesome. In the beginning I went to all the parties and it was fun for a while but it also got pretty exhausting after some time. I felt like all the relationships I had were only superficial. I finally made friends with other international exchange students.

One of them was a fellow German student. We became best friends but I fell in love with him pretty quickly. Love is probably the wrong word, obsession is more accurate. We actually started dating after a while which is when everything fell apart. I don't want to get into the details but it got ugly. He dumped me and I was heartbroken.

Then there was this other guy, an American, who hang around with my friends now and then but I didn't really know him. The night after my ex broke up with me, he found me crying and consoled me. Three days later we kissed for the first time. A week later we went to prom together. More than five years later, last month, we got engaged.

The people I met during my exchange semester who I thought were going to be real friends, disappointed me. I was upset but in the end they didn't matter. What mattered was him, as I soon grew to love him, really love him like I never loved someone before.

In December I went home to Germany and had to leave him behind. It was a really difficult time, but we visited each other. I actually went back for almost two months and stayed with him because I couldn't stand being apart from him. In May 2012 he moved to Germany. I was back at my old univerity city. He moved in with me for some months, then started an exchange year at another univeristy.

Suddenly I didn't care about all the parties and protests anymore. I couldn't wait to get my degree so that I could start my future with him. Which is why I did so many classes and took so many exams till I was done with them three semesters later.

My boyfriend was done with his exchange year too and we both moved back to Michigan. I wrote by Bachelor thesis and he finished his Bachelor degree. I also did an internship at a newspaper over there which was amazing! It was such a great experience! I had to do one more semester because I failed an exam and had to re-take it. But in summer 2014 I finally got my Bachelor degree.

We moved back to Germany, to another city. My bofriend started a Master program over there. Actually I was already tired of studying and wanted to work but I didn't find a job and also I didn't really know what I wanted to do. My Mum suggested that I also do a Master, so I thought: Why not? But if I continue studying, I want to do something different. So I started a Master's program in German literature. It was really interesting.

After a semester a publishing house to which I had applied for a training program after by Bachelor, contacted me and the publisher said that someone left the company and now they have an open spot. I took the opurtunity and paused my studies. For the next one and a half years I worked for this publishing house. It was stressful but it was also an amazing experience which shaped me into the person I am today. I learned that I'm actually good at things I never expected to be good at. I got a lot more confortable with social situations, people in general and big crowds.

After the trainee program ended, the publisher offered me to continue working there but I decided to continue my Master's program. It was still really interesting and I already wrote papers on so many fascinating subjects. I'm looking forward to working on my thesis but I'm also looking forward to being done with studying once and for all though I'm not sure what will come after. It feels weird to think that next year I won't be a student anymore. My college years are coming to an end and it truly feels like the end of an era. Also I'm getting married soon, so I'm optimistic that it will be the beginning of a new era full of even better and bigger things. I can't wait.

A Step for Step Guide: How to write a paper for university

I have just finished and handed in two papers for university, one on horror movies, the second one on a book about a war photographer. Both were truly interesting but also a lot of work but still I managed to finish them in one month, while working on them daily. Why? Believe it or not, though I love some chaos every now and then and highly depend on my friends when planning anything, in a weird way I am also extremely organized. I love scheduling my tasks, I even love to do lists, and I couldn't survive without my planner!

Along the way I picked up a few things about writing and finishing a paper for school successfully which I like to share with you today. Of course there are differences in the process of writing a paper depending on your major and also every one has to find what works best for them in the end, but I hope this will inspire and motivate you nevertheless.

1. Research, research, research

The first thing to do is to read a massive amount of primary and secondary literature. For a literature student like me this includes fiction but most of it is theoretical non-fiction. The best to do is to decide about what you want to write about as early as possible in the semester. Ideal is when you start reading during the semester, so that you have more time during the break.

The important thing here is this: Don't just read. Underline and comment what you read. You will read hundreds of pages and if you don't add markings, your work will be worth nothing because you will basically have to re-read the whole thing once you start writing in order to plan and pick out the important points. So underline everything which seems important to you and put comments next to the texts with your thoughts, ideas and two word summaries of the line you just underlined. Believe me this will make it so much easier for you! I do this all throughout the semester with everything I read. It might take me a bit longer to read like this but it enables me to find important passages and lines so much quicker.

2. Find your question/thesis

Before starting to write you have to know what you are trying to say in the end. Know where you want to land before starting your journey. I usually have a question about my topic which is also the title of my paper. The question combines theory and method with the thing you are analysing. So it could be something like: How can I apply this theory and this method to this thing? Or: Does this thing proove or disprove the theory and the effectiveness of this method?

Also for me it's important to already know the answer to the question. Usually while you read you already get a strong idea of your opinion of this topic. So please, have an opinion. Know what you are trying to say. Know if the theory and method works for this thing or not. Once you know where you want to go, you can figure out how to get there.

3. Create an outline

How you will get there, is exactly what you will put to paper while making an outline. Plan your chapters from the introcution to the conclusion. Use as many sub-chapters as you like, you can always delete some later. Here's how an outline might look:

Introduction: what are you analysing and what are you trying to find out
Theory: summarize important theoretical concepts and explain notions you are going to use
Method: explain what method you are going to use and why
Analysis: this should be the biggest part of your paper, here are all your arguments, all your quotes and all your main points. it should have several sub-points.
Conclusion: what do you conlude from your analysis?
Bibliography: list all the texts you are referring to and quoting

4. Use symbols and abbrevations to sort your material

Once you have an outline, the most difficult part is over. Now all you have to do is follow this outline and turn it into a paper. I use abbrevations to mark all the important points in the literature I read, symbols might work as well. Here's how I do it: I assign one letter to each point of my outline. (Make sure to not assign the same letter to several points. I have done this repeatedly and it's confusing as hell!) Then I go though every single page I've read again and mark everything I underlined and commented with the correct letter according to the chapter this fits in the best.

5. Start writing

5.1. Put post-its on the pages with the letter of the chapter you are currently working on

By doing this, you will only have to go through all your literature once and then you can just skip to the post-it. Use actual sticky post-its. I tried to do this with non sticky bookmarks and they kept falling out which doubled and tripled my work. While putting in the post-its, read the lines you underlined and the comments you inserted again to see which info you have to work with in this chapter.

5.2. Make a plan for this chapter

Yes, I love plans and I would never ever start writing anything without a plan first. So while I put in the post-its I already got an overview of the content I am trying to include into this chapter. Now I write a little note for every argument and info I am including on a blank piece of paper. Then I am giving the notes numbers according to the order in which I will mention them.

5.3. Finally actually start writing

Now lay out your plan for your chapter as well as your literature next to you and start writing. Just start with the first note from your plan, open the pages with the post-its which fit to this point, put in the quote or reference, then continue with the next note. And so one. Do this until you have finished the chapter. It's all already there in your plan. All you have to do is to connect the points with some "furthermore"s and "in consequences"s. Make sure to cross out the letter/abbrevation/symbol of a line/info you have already used and to check the notes on your plan you have written about.

5.4. Read through what you have just written

When you've finished writing this chapter, read through it again. Correct all grammatical and spelling errors you notice. Make sure that what you have written is comprehensive and makes sense. Look up all words, dates, facts, etc. you are not absolutely sure about. I also highlight the citations which belong to the quotes and references I used, so that it's easier to spot them later, when I turn them into footnotes.

5.5. Repeat this process with every chapter of your paper

6. Write the introduction

I always write the introduction after I have written the actual paper, just to make sure that I don't announce something in the introduction which I don't follow through later.

7. Read through the whole thing, take notes and write the conclusion

Now read everything you have written so far and write down notes of everything which is important to mention in the conclusion. Connect the notes in a way which enables you to come to the conclusion you had in mind all the time right from the beginning. Put the notes in order and you have your plan for the conlusion. Now write the conclusion and read through it afterwards.

8. Insert the title page, the index and the bibliography

9. Insert the footnotes

So this is the most annoying and time consuming step. For every single reference and qupte you used, and you should have used a ton of them!, you have to insert a footnote. Which quoting system you use, depends on the country you live in, the standards of your university and the preferences of your teacher. But make sure to follow this system exactly - I mean down to every point and comma. Grind your teeth, insert your hundreds of footnotes, read through them again to make sure you really got every comma right and then pour yourself a glass of wine because this step is really exhausting.

10. Proofread the entire thing once more

Pay attention one last time while you proofread your paper once more, preferably after having let it sit for a day or two. Correct all grammar and spelling mistakes and look everything up you're not sure about. Also double-check all technical terms and names. There's nothing more embarrasing than writing the name of someone you refer to wrong.

11. Insert the date when you will hand it in on your title page, as well as the page numbers into the content and into the index, and check with your professor in which form (printed or digital) he wants to receive the paper.

12. Hand it in and then go get yourself some icecream!