Saturday, May 20 marked the official end of the Plus3 program and my departure from Germany back to the “U.S. of A”. With that being said, I would like to make some concluding thoughts about my two weeks in the “wunder”-ful country of Germany: Visiting the production plants of companies in the German automotive supply chain…

Thank God it’s (was) Friday. May 19 was our official free day, so I decided to visit Chiemsee with my parents. Our private driver dropped us off in downtown Prien, a beautiful town located right on the coast of the Chiemsee. When we arrived, we had no idea that we were still far away from…

Our final day with the entire group began with an InterCity Express train bringing us from Augsburg to the city of Ulm. Upon arrival, we immediately began a perilous trek up 768 narrow, steep spiral steps to the top of Muenster, the tallest steeple tower in Germany. After giving myself long enough of a break…

Good news: no wake-up call. Bad news: presentations in the evening. As such, this will be a very short blog. I decided to wake up early so I could go to the university gift shop and buy myself a shirt before meeting with my team at 10 a.m. The German students never cease to amaze me…

The day began with a tiring walk up a giant hill to the original Cinderella castle: Neuschwanstein, built by Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria. I had seen the outside of this castle last year, but this is the first time I actually went inside. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the…

Our final company visit was today’s main highlight: the widely known car brand BMW. This is the second time I have visited the BMW Welt (World); last year my parents and I only spent a few short minutes there because we crammed a bunch of museum visits into one day. Today, I was able to…

One word that describes today: somber. The main highlight of today was our visit to Dachau, the very first concentration camp established in Germany. We slowly trudged on the gray stones through the gate marked with the infamous German phrase meaning “Work makes you free” into the desolate open field where prisoners had stood for…

Ahh, the weekend. A wonderful time to sleep in until leaving the hotel at 9:20 to go on one of the most epic adventures known to man: spending the whole day in the capital of Bavaria itself. The train ride from Haunstetterstraße Train Station to Munich was very smooth and comfortable. This is the second…

“Car-bon”. The element of cars. That is, according to the periodic table of company visits. The day began with a bus ride to the headquarters of SGL Group, a company that specializes in the utilization of carbon fiber to make automotive parts, lithium ion batteries, sporting goods, etc. We visited the pilot lab, where workers…

Today is the day I have been waiting for. Here’s why: #1. I got to get some extra sleep since we didn’t have to leave the hotel until 9:30. I thoroughly appreciated this later start to our day. #2. We took a bus to a locally owned restaurant called Baindlkirch to feast upon a traditional…

To start off our fourth day, we hopped on a bus and forged ahead to company visit number two: Hirschvogel, a Mittelstand (small, family-owned) company that specializes in forging steel to make various automotive parts such as propeller shafts and ball joints. As we walked through the production plant, we watched colossal machines smash pieces of steel…

Being in an exhaust system factory thoroughly exhausted us (pun most definitely intended). In a good way. Today marked our first company visit: Faurecia, a relatively unknown French company that happens to be a world leader in manufacturing car engines and exhaust systems, among other automotive parts. Upon entering the facility, we received safety gear…

Today marked the first day we set foot on the campus of the University of Augsburg. Immediately we got down to business (no pun intended…just kidding) and met the rest of the German business students in the lecture hall of the business school. We worked together with three of the German students to make our…

After a whopping nine-hour layover in the Newark airport and an eight-hour flight, we eventually entered the little B&B Hotel in Augsburg. When we finished recovering from the extensive, tiring journey, the program organizers treated us with snacks in the form of sandwiches and Bavarian pretzels. This savory intake of carbs certainly prepared me for…

Hello all, and welcome to my blog! My name is Grace, and I am a pre-med student majoring in Bioengineering at the Swanson School of Engineering. I am also pursuing minors in chemistry and mathematics and the Conceptual Foundations of Medicine Certificate. I hail from a smallish town called Lima, Ohio (approximately four hours away…