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| If I'd followed my kindergarten aspirations I'd be Snow White right now. |
Just like the guidance counselors at South, Herr Dröge went through all the available options following graduation. You can jump right into university, an apprenticeship, a mixture of the two, work and travel overseas, volunteer for a year, be an au pair or maybe even head out west to study in the Netherlands, which isn't an uncommon thing to do here. And whereas our guidance counselors at South made our army, naval and air force possibilities very clear, the only similar option Herr Dröge mentioned was the Bundespolizei, the federal police agency, and no one raised their hand or voice in interest.
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| Are you on the right track to success nach dem Abitur? |
When I mentioned I was from the US and am staying domestic for college, Herr Dröge kind of laughed and said, "You guys have to pay quite a bit to go to university over there, don't you?" Our higher education costs are mind blowing to my classmates at Viktoriaschule. German universities just don't charge the sky-high tuition like US schools. There are student body fees that include things like a transportation pass, but we've got those, too. In a few Bundesländer students have to pay about 500 Euros per semester if they study four semesters longer than deemed necessary for their degree.
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| Throwback to springtime at South last year. |
From what I read, certain fields of study in Bavaria have to pay a couple thousand Euros tuition. There's also the private Hochschule option, which can cost several thousand Euros but provides similar benefits as a small, liberal arts college in the US. According to the College Board, the average cost for one year at an American public university is over $9,000, for out-of-staters at public schools it's almost $23,000 and at private schools it's in the $31,000 range. There are things I really dig about American universities but tuition is definitely not one.
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| Proud to be a Duck! |
About 15 percent of my classmates at the presentation were pretty positive about their career plans. Those who were still a bit unsure had general ideas like, "I want to work with people and never have to study math again," or the other popular one, "I want to do something in Aachen with technology." In order to help us out, Herr Dröge gave us a few links to career aptitude tests. This afternoon I took one and the top matches were as follows:
Kulturmanager/in Cultural Institution Manager
Regisseur/in Director
Fremdenführer/in Tour Guide
Kunstvermittler/in Art Dealer
Schauspieler/in Actress
Drehbuchautor/in Screenwriter
Online-Redakteur/in Online Editorial Writer
Auslandsvertreter/in Diplomatic Representative
Pressesprecher/in Publicist
Well, no surprises there! Who knows? Maybe my middle school dreams of becoming a film director/writer will someday become a reality. Or maybe I'll go down the diplomat route. If you'd like to try out the career test (only available in German) click here.