Here you can find out more about certain parts in my life.
Have a click:
My Birth:
It was in 1972 when I first saw the light of this world. I
was born in Bremen, Germany. For those of you who don't know Bremen: next
time you drink a Becks beer, check the label!
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Growing Up
I grew up in a little town close to Bremen. I went to kindergarden,
elementary school, phase of orientation (yes, this really is the name
of a schook in the northern parts of Germany; basically, it is 5th and
6th grade and students are somewhat evaluated and get a recommendation
of which school to attend next), and the Gymnasium (again, this is a
school, not some kind of a gym; you have to go through this school
(up to the 13th grade) to get your "Abitur" which means you are able to
attend a university).
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High School
School was a lot of fun but from 11th grade on most of the fun vanished
since everybody was preparing for our "Abitur", the final test in our
high school career. Since 10th grade every student had to pick two
majors and two minors. My majors were mathematics and physics and my
minors were English and geography. In each of the majors your write
a 360 minutes exam (yes, that really is six hours straight). In those
exams you are tested on all material that you started studying from
7th grade on. Your minors are split up into an oral and written test.
I took geography in the written version and English in the oral form.
The English test was fun. I just had gotten back from an exchange
program to the US so my English was in its best form.
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Military
After finishing high school and getting my "Abitur" I had to do what
most male German citizens have to do: The military was calling. Unlike
in the US we have a mandatory military system. I was drafted and
stationed in Munster for three months of basic training. Then I was
transferred to Buxtehude which is a small city located to the west of
Hamburg, Germany. There I spent an additional 9 months running around
in my green outfit. I was an assistant DI for a while and the last
few days I spent working in an office assisting the company chief.
I made a lot of good friends during the time I served and still stay
in touch with some of them. Our baracks, the "Esthetal Kaserne" in
Buxtehude, Germany, were closed in 1994. I used to go and visit my
old troup once in a while but now everybody is gone.
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Going West
From 1987 on I started visiting the United States. Here is a list of
the exchange programs and trips to the US I have made:
- 1987 High School Exchange Program to Oakland, Maryland for four weeks
- 1988 Private Trip to Oakland, Maryland to visit my hostfamily from 1987 for five weeks.
- 1989 Rotary Exchange Program to San Diego, Calfornia for four weeks.
- 1990 Private Trip to San Diego, California to visit my hostfamily from 1989 for five weeks.
- 1991 Private trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin to visit one of my several pen pals in the US for two weeks.
- 1992 University of Arizon, Tucson - read on for further information
- 1993 Started attending the University of Wisconsin, Madison and am still here.
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Failure in Tucson, AZ
From the very first time I went to the United States in 1987 I knew that
I wanted to come back and go to school at an American university. I
applied to many schools and got no rejection. That was a very positive
fact and encouraged me further to go west. I had one restriction though:
A semester in Germany costs something around 30 dollars. This is no
typo, 30 dollars! So the only limitation I had was that I couldn't go
to a school that were hyper expensive. Otherwise my parents would have
nuked my plans. So, I accepted my admission to the University of Arizona,
Tucson. Since it was almost shortly before the fall semester 1992 began,
I called them up and they promised me a place in the dorms on the phone.
This was very important to me since I didn't have a place to live yet.
So, I flew to San Diego to my host family from 1989 and 1990 and they
went on a long trip with me to Tucson. Once we arrived the situation
had changed a bit. A huge waiting list for the dorms and tuition went
up and other facts that made it very clear that I would not attend this
university. I had two great weeks in the US with my host brother and his
brother cruising through the desert, going through Biosphere II, and so
on. After those two weeks and flew back home from San Diego.
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Back in Germany
Now that I was back in Germany I had to quickly decide of what to do.
I was very disappointed about my failure in the US and developed some
kind of hate against everything American. I decided to apply to a
University in Hildesheim, Germany, which is near Hannover and about
one hour away from our house in Germany. I started my studies in
medical computer science. Hildesheim is one of the few universities
who offer this field of studies. I attended the University of Hildesheim,
Germany nearly for a full semester.
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On Wisconsin!
Close to Christmas in 1992 I lost all my negative feelings for the US
I had before. For some reason I needed to try it again - and I did.
I have heard a lot of good things about the University of Wisconsin,
Madison and called them at the beginning of December of 1992 to have
them review my application. I was hoping I would get the admission
a second time - and I did. At that time I had just finished completely
furnishing and remodeling my appartment in Hildesheim. You can understand
that my folks were not really happy about the idea of me going to the
US for a second time. On my way to Madison in January 1993 I met this
great lady in Chicago's O'Hare Airport. She was also on her way back
to Madison and she started telling me about the city. We took the
bus to Madison and became very good friends. Indeed, we became such good
friends that she invited me over to her house after I settled into my
new place in Madison - the dorms. From then on her and her husband took
care of me like I was their own son. Unfortunately, Bob and Bonnie -
their names - left Madison in May 1996 to find a nicer place in
Charleston, South Carolina. Before they left though, my parents came to
Madison and got to stay in their house. They became very good friends
as well. Such good friends that Bob and Bonnie went on a trip to Germany
to visit us.
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Mad Town Studies
I knew right away when I came to the University of Wisconsin, Madison
that this time it woulnd't be a failure. From the first moment on on
this campus I was guided to the right places and found help whenever
I needed it. Very much unlike the situation I found at the University
of Arizona, Tucson. I decided to go into computer science and spent
hours behind computers. After two semesters I knew though that I did
not want to go with computer science alone so I decided to add two
more majors: finance and international business. Therefore, I am
currently triple majoring and it takes a lot of my time. I personally
like the combination of computer science and business and from most of
the people I talked to I heard the same thing. My ultimate goal is to
be able to stay in the US (that means getting my green card) and to
work as an investment banker in New York City. If you have a job for
me then you should probably look at my resume.
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My Future
I expect to graduate in either December 1997 or in May 1998. Then the
big ??? are coming towards me of whether I have a chance of finding
a job in the US of A or not. I am also planning on going to grad
school in the field of investments and finance.
My ultimate goal is to be able sto stay in the US (that means getting my
green card) and to work as an investment banker in New York city. If you
have a job for me then please check out my resume.
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