A Single Article

As the World Turns

The not-so-awaited sequel to “Lost in Translation.”

Last Friday I took the train to the airport because I had to get my ticket changed. I had originally been led to believe that I was to work until the 18th of August, when it turned out I will only work until the 4th. Good to know.

The trip was somewhat familiar since it was the same one I had taken the opposite way into town when I arrived almost 3 weeks ago. As the train started I somehow managed to convince myself that my internship in Frankfurt was officially over and I was leaving for good… and I sincerely wanted to cry. I don’t know exactly why I felt so strongly attached to this place. It may have been the sheer amount of hard work that went into getting here; all the reasons why it would have been impossible, the countless times I accepted failure, the long amount of time I actually waited for good news… hoping and praying and succeeding in the end. Or it may have been that I really do like Frankfurt, even if there are so many things I can’t stand about it. Or maybe it’s just that I am realizing a world of opportunities available to me, just barely within my reach, and this is just a short taste before I head back to one more year of the grind at Cornell.

For some of my fellow American interns, summer in Germany is another stamp on the suitcase. I would love to visit some of the places they have studied and worked in. For an engineer, traveling is not typical, and it doesn’t surprise me that the only other engineering intern here is in Europe for the first time. This is, without question, a life-changing experience for me. I’m doing everything I can to take advantage of my time here, and with good reason. This is the last summer before my life begins. It’s exciting and scary at the same time. I don’t know where I will go after I graduate or what work I will do. I know that I still like Europe, but from this side of the Atlantic I can see that I need to narrow that down. I know what my dream job is, but that is a subject for later. Uncertainty is the word of the day.

I have 321 days until I graduate. I have a lot of praying to do. And still, the world keeps turning. Hello from Germany, wish you were here.