Motivation
February 2005
Already before I even started my studies of Physics I was quite
convinced I wanted to go aborad at some point - now the time has come,
and I will explain a little about this wish.
During high school I spent one year in the United States - this was not
only a valuable experience for my personal development but also showed
me how important exchange programs are to facilitate cultural
understanding between different countries. Therefore I wanted to
experience this again ever since I got back from the United States.
Right now is the best time for me to go abroad without disrupting my
studies in Germany too much and I was already looking at different
countries, when I first heard about the Berlin-Nairobi Exchange. But
the prospect of going to Kenya challanged as well as excited me so much
that I decided very quickly that Kenya is the place I wanted to go to.
There are different academic as well as personal reasons why I consider
Kenya such a good choice and I will try to elaborate on them here.
Even going to the seemingly very exotic destination Africa it is still
important for me to go to a university where I can learn some
interesting physics. In Kenya this seems to be possible as it has some
of the best universities in sub-Saharan Africa. From what former
exchange students tell there seems to be small classes providing for a
very intimate climate of teaching, and the students are very interested
as well. There seem to be very interesting possibilities for me in
Nairobi since I am interested in laser physics and optics as well as
environmental physics both of which I should be able to pursue there
very well. Especially the collaboration of Institute of Environmental
Physics Bremen and the Berlin-Nairobi Exchange making it possible
for me to do a 4th year project involving the DOAS station operated by
the Institute of Environmental Physics Bremen in Nairobi provides for a
perfect combination of the fields I am interested in.
In the course of the Bologna Process and the reforms in the German
educational system the comparison to a country with a working
Bachelor/Master-system seems vital to me to make informed statements
about the development in Germany.
So far I do not know very much about most parts of Africa. I have never
before been to any Africa at all, German media coverage is very poor
and who ever I talk to does not seem very well informed either. This
makes very clear how much need there is to strengthen the kind of
cultural exchange this program will have as an important side-effect. I
do think Kenya is very different from the countries I have spent a
longer time so it will be a new and challanging but very valuable
experience for me.
Due to my experience in the United States and during several longer
vacations in developing countries I thin I can cope very well with the
big cultural changes I will encounter by going to Kenya.
I would be delighted if I could take part in the Berlin-Nairobi
Exchange and to thereby make a contribution to this exchange program as
well as German-Kenyan relations.
Atreju
Tauschinsky,
February 2005