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Marco goes US

Gizmo | 22.11.2010 3 0

Reasons for my decision to apply for a scholarship

As long as I remember, I have always been interested in foreign culture and especially languages. At the age of four years my mother sent me to a weekly English class where I made my first contact with words like “banana” or “potato”. Later on, when the regular lessons appeared on the schedule, my dream of becoming an interpreter began to flourish. I never wanted to be a fireman or an astronaut but somebody who enables communication between different peoples.
At the time when I attended the secondary grammar school, I started to focus on writing as something that I aimed to bring to perfection for myself. My career aspiration shifted from translating to informing people about whatever is worth to be informed about. Therefore, I did not only took part in a school magazine and in events that promote adolescent journalists. I also decided for an internship in a local newspaper, where I represented the substitution of a full-fledged member for a whole week.
However, things change quickly at that age and when I had to choose the subjects for my studies, the idea of another profession immediately touched the surface of my mind. I remembered a journey to our Department of State in Berlin that suddenly seemed to be the perfect solution for my desire to combine social skills as well as linguistic and cultural understanding. Having considered the opportunity of applying for a career as army officer, I now regained clarity of what I really want to achieve in life.
Basically, there was never a second that I regretted my decision until today. In the first week of studies I realized that this is what I want to make use of in order to contribute at least a little to a better life on Earth. Of course I was overwhelmed by questions of what I intend to do after my Bachelor's degree in order to earn some money with what I have learned. Often people cannot imagine what certain occupational groups are dealing with, but as long as I know what I want to achieve, I pointed out for me, this should not display an obstacle.
Having accomplished the Bachelor of Arts, I aim to continue with the Master's degree where directions like “British and American Transcultural Studies” or simply “American Studies” are among my favorite ones. On the one hand, it is mainly “Linguistics” and “Literature” that I prefer but, on the other hand, I am still not sure whether this would also be a good choice for my deepening studies.
Nevertheless, the final stage shall be a career in the higher service of the Department of State where I would have to pass a thirteen-month apprenticeship. During this time, profound knowledge about economy, politics and law will be conveyed in order to guarantee the generalist principle, according to which everyone can be put into all of the three branches in every German embassy around the world. To attain this goal, tough decisions have to be made in terms of having a family or other personal developments that cannot be easily foreseen. Despite that, I know that I have to make one step after another and I am already starting right now. My next one shall be not here in Germany but some thousand miles away across the Atlantic Ocean.
At the moment, I have subscribed the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, as I want to ameliorate my understanding of political, economical and social issues regarding to current events. Moreover, I am learning Spanish which I once had for half a year at school. This will be my third foreign language after English and French, and another one is already part of my future plans. Since my parents considered to emigrate, they began to learn Norwegian, which is the one I want to be able to (at least) communicate with by the time I attain my Bachelor's degree.

To be continued...