"...I was able to go to the opera and symphony for the first time, experience performance art, and engage with the works and music pieces in ways I had never been able to before in a country that was entirely new to me."
Being able to take part in the Summer Core in Berlin: Art and Music Humanities program was an incredible experience. As a student on the pre-med track, it did not seem possible for me to study abroad for a semester and miss out on required courses. So while the summer study abroad options seem like a no-brainer, the reality is that while Columbia Financial Aid covers semesters abroad during the school year, the summer is not covered. The Global Learning Scholarship bridged this gap and made my dreams of studying abroad a reality without having to compromise on my future aspirations.
Sitting in the classroom, you could not help but feel excited about the material, listening to our incredible professors passionately lead dialogue. Not only this, but professors personally led us through various museums and performances, breathing life into the curriculum as it became something to experience as multisensory. Through this program, I was able to go to the opera and symphony for the first time, experience performance art, and engage with the works and music pieces in ways I had never been able to before in a country that was entirely new to me.
The length of the program allowed for a true immersion into the local way of life and the material. I frequently found myself around the Museum Island after classes had finished. Our classrooms were conveniently located in the CIEE building in which we lived. So after running upstairs to my room to drop off my backpack, I would simply ride the U-Bahn to Unter den Linden and walk to a museum to see the artworks my professor discussed that day. Or I would find myself sitting near the river or a cafe where they knew my order (a pistachio croissant and a matcha), listening to the pieces played from the classroom speaker earlier.
As a Neuroscience Major, I believe that the environments in which we learn have a monumental impact on the way we physically cultivate understanding. I am confident that my experience in Berlin as a part of this core program has been transformative. Berlin itself is a city of becoming: where the gashes from shrapnel in stone highlight the new flowers taking root in the crack of the sidewalk. Where the old and new and now are in constant conversation. All of these things make Berlin the perfect place to become a student of art and music, or perhaps even a creator of them.
