Thoughts of a Master student

I wish I'd just studied the right thing. Business studies or at least a teaching degree. At some point in the next six semesters, this thought will probably cross the minds of most Bachelor's students of German studies. And anyway. What do you actually do with German studies? Driving a cab? That's another saying that will come up in six semesters. But yes - what the hell do you actually do with German studies? What did I actually study there? As a rule, not German Studies. And also not Medieval Studies, Linguistics or Literary Studies. Because sooner or later in your studies it happens: You find a topic that interests you more than other things and for some reason, maybe exactly for that reason, you are better at it than the girl with the blue hair who knew so much already in the first semester. Or than Mark, who you live with, who started German studies before you. And at some point you get the impression that you also know more about your subject than the professor who only gave you 13 points on your term paper. Somehow you think he didn't really deal with your work. But the world is big and there are people out there, companies, NGOs, government agencies, or who knows who, who are interested in your ideas. Ask for an internship. You've learned how to think scientifically, how to understand and apply complex issues, and if you can't do something, you've learned how to teach yourself. These are things that don't come naturally. You will have completed a degree that you may not have been 100% sure you could do before. Some of that feeling will remain and that's okay because a new adventure is starting.

And then you just fire up Google and see what jobs are out there in the direction of your interests. Sure, if you want to be a journalist, maybe you could have studied journalism. If you think social media is cool, maybe you could have studied communication design. And if you wanted to be a management consultant, you could have studied business administration. But you didn't. You don't have to. It's not about what you studied, but how you can enrich a team in the future. Linguists work together with computer scientists to optimize computer-human interfaces such as user interfaces, translation programs or speech computers. Literary scientists become editors for television, the newspaper or write their debut novel. Medievalists research corporate histories, curate museums, etc. Maybe your idea is so good that you go into research, start a business, or launch a YouTube channel. You might still have to learn how to fundraise, prepare a balance sheet, or edit a video, but if you keep at it, it'll work out somehow. You'll have understood what poststructuralism is.

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