Good morning blog, it’s presentation day here in Augsburg! Honestly, I have been nervous about this day since before the start of the trip. Here we go!
We started off the morning early with a group breakfast at the IBIS before leaving for the University. We all shared our last-minute nerves with each other, and it felt better knowing that everyone felt the same as our group did. Hearing from the other groups, I felt secure, knowing that our GROB-Werke presentation was the most prepared and had it done the earliest. However, one of our group members, Ricardo, had not really had the chance to practice with us, mostly because he was busy with class and work most of the week. Knowing this, I had gone over my part-time and time again – probably a combined 30 times, reciting my part of the presentation alone in my room. Usually, I get super nervous and start panicking before presentations, so I knew I had to do some extra work and be super prepared to avoid that. I wasn’t scared about the content, but I am not the most confident speaker in the world – and with over 20 students in a sweaty room with no AC, I had stayed up late anxious about the presentations each night leading up to it.
When we arrived at the University, my group – Anna, Nate, Shreya, Gaby, and I – found a nice empty classroom to go over our presentations before lunch. It seemed like we had a great hold on each of our parts, so my nerves were calmed a bit. After practice, we met up with Korbinian and the rest of the Plus3 students and had a nice meal. I sat with Nikolas, Ricardo, Maxi, and Peter, and we talked about how excited we were to finally be done with the work on our trip, as well as our anticipated free day to Salzburg. After concluding lunch, we all made our way towards the presentation room to practice a final time and give our presentations.
Dr. Feick walked into the room and just as expected, we picked random spots to go first. Obviously, my group had been hoping and talking about going first all week, so we didn’t have to stress out about our parts while listening to the other groups. To our surprise, we were the first number picked, and we all shouted in excitement. In fact, I was so excited that I completely forgot how nervous I was about giving a presentation in the first place. Our presentation ended up going so smoothly – I felt like I gave the best presentation I had ever given in my life. After finishing, I walked out of the classroom and pumped my fist directly in the air, and gave a “LET’S GO!” in the hallway. We were all so relieved to finally be done.
That same night, we had our last dinner at the “Ratskeller”, below the town hall in Augsburg. I ate a beautiful dish of mushroom crème sauce spatzle. We all treasured our final moments with the German students and had a last special hoorah with our dear friend Maxi. We weren’t sure when we would all see each other next, but we trusted each other that one day we would reunite.
Time to take the train to Salzburg, Austria! A great free day to end the trip, see you later blog!