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With the second semester already underway, I wanted to take some time off to share with you all my insight on how my first semester in the Master of Finance program, as well as living in Frankfurt turned out to be.
When I decided to join the Master of Finance program last year, I was well aware that I was up for a big challenge, not only in academic terms but also because of the fact that I would be now living in a new country that most importantly of all, spoke a language I knew nothing about. To try to make the most out of my experience living in Germany, I decided to join the German intensive course taught at school, and what a great decision that was. Not only did I learn the basics of this quite complicated language but I also got to know the city and its surroundings during the really hot summer and met many people, many of whom to this day remain my closest friends in this journey.
Once summer was over it was time to get the real thing started. The semester officially went underway with an outdoor campus with people from all three of the school’s master programs. Looking back to this event I believe it to be a great way to get a general idea of who are the people you will be spending most of your time for the following two years. Even though it’s hard to get to know everyone well enough in just two days, it was a great experience and a good way to start the first semester of our studies.
Once classes started, everything started to change as well. Weather started to get colder, days started to be shorter and the amount of information we were receiving was increasing exponentially by the second. The good thing about the way the master programs at FS are scheduled is that it gives you enough time to organize yourself to study and prepare for all the exams and projects you have to work on during the semester. For me this was a very valuable thing as it had been a long time since I finished my bachelor studies and getting back to the study mode was no easy task. Thankfully though, as weeks went by, things started to flow smoother and I even had some time every now and then to get to travel and get to know the city of Frankfurt even better.
To be completely honest, if you are reading this and come from the Americas or some other tropical country as I do, be ready to feel some real winter struggles. Even though this winter was not that harsh, it was still much colder than what I was used to in my home country and the little amount of sunlight you see every day is something that you simply will never get used to. This weather issue made it much harder to prepare the final exams, but nonetheless at the end of it all I believe it was a very gratifying and rewarding experience.
To close this entry, I must say that the first semester of the Master of Finance program was a great way to revise the basic financial and economical concepts and tools needed to fully grasp the more complex subjects we will encounter in the upcoming semesters. It was also a great experience for me as I met many of my fellow classmates and friends during this semester and experienced my first winter ever.
Looking back at this first 6 months I must say that I am happier than ever to have embarked on this journey. Even though my German is still a work in progress and winter has been way too long, the skills I’ve learned, the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had have all made this an incredible experience.
Frankfurt School gGmbH
Adickesallee 32-34
60322 Frankfurt am Main
