Today was the big day-Presentation day. Each group had its own schedule but we all had to be at the University ready to present at 1 pm. My group met at 10 that morning to start rehearsing. In earlier working sessions, we rehearsed, but this is the first time we would practice with a completely finished presentation. As I’d done with other presentations for this class, I asked another group to meet up so we can practice presenting in front of other people and get feedback. When we first rehearsed a few days earlier, my part was around 4 minutes 30 seconds. My job was to go over the whole PESTLE analysis, all aspects affecting the company. I consider myself long winded so when I saw I was under time I was pleasantly surprised. The PESTLE analysis part of the presentation was allotted 5 minutes. I reconfigured what I wanted to include and say so I had no idea how long my updated part would take. After going through the presentation with my group I was around 6 minutes. I did not mind being over since I knew I would talk faster when I was nervous during the presentation and I would cut out any filler words. After rehearsing by ourselves, we met up with a fellow group and presented to each other. I was reassured when they liked the story we were telling and how we told it. I found their use of the company slogan to tell the story of now and the future very interesting and cohesive. Before our presentations, we went to the “Mensa” to eat, which is like their University’s version of a dining hall. After lunch, we had about 30 minutes to practice ourselves before we all sat down to present and spectate other presentations. As a debate kid at heart, I do what any debate kid would do to prepare for a tournament: talk to a wall. I found some quiet space and a blank wall and gave my entire presentation. If we didn’t look crazy enough as Americans, there I am, talking to a wall. I rehearsed three or four times before heading back to my group.
We entered the same classroom we had used for the past two weeks. You could tell everyone was anxious and nervous. When I walked in, another group already had their presentation up and ready to present. Everyone wanted to go first. Everyone was prepared but definitely wanted to get the presentation over with. After a random number generator, my group was selected to go second to last. I was okay with the position since it gave me time to call my nerves. Eventually, we got to my group. After some technical difficulties, we were ready.
Everyone’s part went very smoothly. When I present and people ask me about it after, I rarely say anything because it’s all a blur. The one thing I do remember is talking very fast. If I spoke slower and at an understandable rate, I would’ve taken around 6 minutes, I think I explained everything in 4 minutes. I think I just got so into what I was saying that I said it at a million miles an hour. I feel bad for the German students who need a second to comprehend what I’m saying but I was talking so fast, that I gave them no time. Other than that, I felt the presentation hit all the points needed and everyone contributed what was needed.
When we sat back down and the final group presented, I definitely breathed a sigh of relief. That presentation was a big part of our grade and now it was finally over. Unfortunately, the German students were not as relieved since they still had to write a paper. I was glad I was able to share what I said in written form so they could use it for their paper. I wanted to make sure they did not have to re-research my part of the presentation for their paper. They seemed really thankful for that. I thought it was the least I could do since the American students were not required to write a paper.
After getting back to the hotel I remember wanting to take a big nap, but there was no time. We headed straight for the goodbye dinner with everyone from the program. I was so excited to see people from the welcome dinner that I had not seen in two weeks. It was so sad to say goodbye when we were finally connecting and having a good time. For dinner, we got pizza as an appetizer and I got pork schnitzel for dinner. Dinner was good but the company was even better. The entire time, we could not stop laughing. I hated to think this was the last time I would ever see some of these people. Before we left dinner, I made sure to hug everyone who was not going back to the US. Now my only connection to these people was Whats App and Instagram, still better than nothing. A few of us are already planning a trip back when we have the time and money to afford it.
It’s crazy to think that we only have two days left. I would give anything to be right back at the beginning, hating the jetlag. With two more days, we needed to make the most of it, and that meant taking advantage of every opportunity and avoiding packing.