Hi everyone,

While the concept of studying abroad is appealing to almost everyone, crossing the threshold of wanting to study abroad and actually committing to study abroad can be a rather stressful process for several reasons.  Where do I want to go? How much does the trip cost? Who is going on the trip? Can I find a study abroad trip that can accommodate all of these factors?  

            Luckily for me I was fortunate enough to find a D-Term trip that fit into the three questions listed above.  Through the Office of International Affairs, you can more or less go anywhere in the world, and no matter where you go you will be required to make a substantial financial investment to cover the costs of the study abroad program fee.  Once I accepted that I was going to be broke, the choice to study abroad in Germany was a rather obvious one.  As a political science major and true lover of history, how could I pass up the opportunity to visit a place that has had such a profound impact on history? 

There are thousands of different theories as to why the world is the way it is today.  Why are some countries wealthier than other countries? Why do some governments align with one another?  Why do some countries use military intervention in an attempt to restore democracy?  The molding of the modern world did not happen overnight and has taken thousands of years, however most historians would argue that World War I and World War II have been instrumental in shaping the modern world (post 1950).  World War I was caused for a variety of reasons: militarism, nationalism, arms races, etc., and because this is only a 400 word entry I will not expand upon these concepts in great detail, however the ramifications following World War I would ultimately set the stage for World War II.  The allied powers (winners of WWI) placed complete blame for the war on the central powers (losers of WWI) and imposed high reparations, or punitive damages on the central powers.  Counties tasked with financing these reparations faced high levels of inflation, and at one point in post WWI Germany a wheel-barrel filled with Reich marks (German currency) was equivalent to a load of bread.  The feeble post WWI government in Germany, and the astronomical level of reparation repayment that the Central powers faced made the result of WWII inevitable.  Again I’m not to go into extreme detail…but the allied powers once again won WWII, and the allied powers or the Big Five (United States, Great Britain, France, China and the Soviet Union) were arguably the most powerful nations in the world.  However, among these 5 nations, the United States and the Soviet Union would emerge as the worlds new world leaders transferring the political stage on the international level from a multi-polar power system to a bi-polar power system (two world powers instead of several).  Although the U.S. and Soviet Union were allies in WWI and WWII, their vastly different political ideologies would ultimately result in the construction of the Berlin Wall and the start of the Cold War.  What I’ve just described does not adequately highlight the impact that World Wars I and II had on the modern world, however as you can see, we are and will continue to feel the effects of World War I and World War II.  Germany was at the center of these events, and for that reason primarily I could not pass up the opportunity to visit Germany.  Further, what I’ve described only covers from approximately 1918-1989, and Germany had a bright history for thousands of years before the start of WWI.  Also, I think that it will be incredible to get a personal feel for the culture of Germany.  Would a German citizen in 1946 believe that their culture would have the resiliency to bounce back from the devastation of World War II to once more become a significant world power and leader of the European Union? (W/C 669).