I've finished my master's. Now what?

The finish line

I’ve finished my master’s degree!! What a milestone it is to do it! It was two years of learning and amazing projects, like my master’s thesis project. I’ve met the most creative and smart people, including my teachers and colleagues. And I can’t believe it’s over.

There were some challenges, like any degree faces. Working with people worldwide is wonderful; you have different ideas and ways of doing things. But that can also be something challenging. Sometimes, it can be hard to work with people with different backgrounds; everyone can have a different perspective on time and work. But, in the end, it’s the combination of different minds and ideas that matter the most to create cool projects!

When I arrived in Germany two years ago, I never thought I would do so many different things. When I finished my thesis, I started stressing about what I’d learned because the two years of my master’s went by so fast. I felt like I’d learned nothing, but looking back now, I’ve learned so much about many things.

The good thing about my master’s program is that it is convenient and offers diverse classes. For example, at the beginning of the master’s program, I was only interested in learning more about Public Relations and Marketing. Two years later, I learned about event law, curating exhibitions, creating art for an art exhibition, and a little graphic design. Additionally, something I was not interested in before, I’ve learned about Soundscapes and sound composition; I even wrote my thesis on that!

What now?

I am grateful for everything I’ve learned, for the friends I made, and for the projects I created. But what will I do now?

If I want to stay in Germany for a long time, I need two things: a job and learn the language. So that’s what I will focus on in the future.

Right now, I do have a job here in Darmstadt, but it’s currently a working student job. I am working at this amazing company called Merck. It’s a pharmaceutical company, and you might ask why I am working for a pharmaceutical company while I took a master’s in media. Well, I work in a very important department that exists in every company (or at least, it should exist), that is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). I assist with the internal communications of this department, addressing and creating awareness about different aspects of DEI. I feel like it’s very important and I love what I do.

Trying new things 

Talking about trying new things, one of my goals after finishing my master’s is to find more hobbies, since right now I don’t really have any. I am thinking of trying some sports, and some creative activities and let’s see what else I find to do! 

But now let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, I have lived in Germany for two years now. Yes, I still can’t speak German. One of these days, I was walking to the Hauptbahnhof and someone approached me to ask something, and I said “Ich spreche kein Deutsch”, and that person said that that sounded very fluent and accurate, for someone who doesn’t speak German. Well, thank you, it’s the phrase that I’ve used more for the past two years.

Having said that, yes, I want to try to learn German, but it’s very difficult. I will definitely give it another try, but I feel like the classes I’ve been to weren’t helping me, and I only have friends who speak in English, so it has been hard to find a way to learn that works for me.

It is a process, and I am sure I’ll find my way.

Additionally, I want to travel more, inside and outside of Germany. I have a list of places that I still want to visit in Germany, and I hope I can start checking some of those places next year!

So, these are my plans for now: enjoy my job, try to do more activities and try to learn German and travel more in and outside of Germany!

Enjoy!

So, whether you’re reading this before arriving in Germany, in your first months or as long as I have been here, this is for you: appreciate every moment, try to learn as much as you can, talk to as many people as you can and just enjoy your bachelor or master’s. It is a privilege to have this experience in a country like Germany, so grab it and take the most out of it!