A Semester in Review
… and just when you h̶o̶p̶e̶d̶ thought I had hung up my blogging boots for good, I resurrect for one more post about my entire semester abroad with DIS, my classes, my favorite experiences… y’know, the classic “this is how abroad was” post.
So, because most of you reading this are probably prospective DIS students, I’ll try to answer the questions I know you all really want to know:
First off, (what I wanted to know most): is DIS hard? Will I have time for all the shenanigans throughout Europe I have planned if I take 15 hours?
I pondered over this question for months before arriving in Copenhagen. What if I get overloaded with work? What if all the Europe I see is the inside of the DIS library?
Well, here’s my answer: it’s not hard, it’s different.
This past semester, I took four Computer Science classes and one Communications class, a tall order at any university. On top of that, I lived with a homestay family, had to commute in and out of the city every day, and was an ultra-devoted ;) DIS student blogger.
With all that going on, I still managed to have no classes on Mondays, visit 13 different European cities in 5 different countries, build a deck in my homestay family’s backyard, and have the best semester of my college career.
DIS professors understand that traveling and connecting with each other is a vital part of the abroad experience. They understand this and, paired with the structuring of the DIS calendar, every student should have the time they need to travel and see Europe.
Don’t get me wrong though, DIS is not easy. You need to work hard in your classes to get an A.
I selected my classes with the intent of working on projects, not tests. DIS hires professionals currently working/researching in their field to teach their classes. I seized this opportunity to learn in a hands-on setting, creating my own projects, getting exposure to real-world project creation and development, building a portfolio, and experiencing real-world project development in a team setting.
I did not have a single test the entire semester, rather, I worked on, completed, and presented real-world projects.
Here are some of the big projects I worked on this semester:
Computational Analysis of Big Data — An Investigation of Big-Pharma Donations to Doctors:
^ This post was picked up by the publication Towards Data Science which has over 218,000 readers!
Game Development + Lab — 3D Project, Last Night: I’ll update this with the link once my professor hosts the 3D game online, but for now you can play our 2D Platformer here:
http://dis.benno-lueders.de/2019SpringGames/2DPlatformer/FlowgodLennyVSNoFlowBenny/
Virtual Worlds & Social Media — Created and curated a DIS restaurant recommendation community:
Programming Language Paradigms — Investigation of the Swift Programming Language (originally a Powerpoint but adapted to an online article):
https://medium.com/swlh/apple-s-and-orange-s-a-swift-overview-of-swift-9856fad7214a
^ This post was picked up by the publication The Startup which has over 457,000 readers! If you do end up reading this article, be prepared for some really cringy Taylor Swift jokes/puns.
Outside of these big projects, there were a number of other assignments for all my classes that were fairly challenging. My advice: read the syllabus and the rubric closely and if something isn’t clear, ask your professor to clarify. There’s no reason to lose points over some tiny thing that could have been cleared up at the outset.
As I look back on the semester, I am proud of the work I put into my classes and the assignments/projects that I completed these past four months. I can take these projects with me from DIS into the future; whether it be in a job interview or at the Thanksgiving dinner table, I am proud to show people what I challenged myself to accomplish while in Copenhagen.
Thomas’s Favorites
Favorite Meal: Dry-Aged Bacon Cheeseburger from Naše Maso Butchery in Prague.
Words can’t describe how good this cheeseburger was. Like I’m sitting here typing on my computer thinking about it and my salivary glands are in overdrive. Oh god, I have to stop thinking about it soon.
Here, enjoy some pictures of the moment I found nirvana, entered a state of bliss, and found salivary enlightenment:
Portrait mode doesn’t even do it justice.
Second Favorite Meal: Bratwurst at The Augustiner, Berlin
I didn’t know I liked sauerkraut until after this picture was taken. How do you say yummmmmmmmmmm in Deutsch?
Favorite Part About Abroad: Hands down, without a doubt, no contest, my homestay family. I know, I know, I talk about them on this blog so much but they are the kindest, funniest, greatest people.
We ate copious (and definitely unhealthy) amounts of garlic bread and McDonald’s together, laughed so much my stomach hurt after, and just got along so, so well. I’ll cherish the time we spent together for the rest of my life. I kept the key, so if you guys are reading this, I might surprise you in Humlebæk one of these days ;)
Here’s me & the squad at the FC København vs. Brøndby IF game (Far not pictured)
Here’s some of the extended family squad at our last Mormor (grandma) & Morfar (grandpa) Thursday night dinner.
Favorite Picture: I haven’t gotten my film pictures developed yet, but as of now it is:
With a close second:
My one parting note: the semester is what you make of it.
Don’t expect to arrive in Europe and have everything come to you. I challenged myself by taking a bunch of CS classes while living with a Danish family of five. For me, every challenge turned out to be one of the best parts of the entire experience.
Not everything is going to knock your socks off (after all, you can only see so many Italian churches) but get out there, challenge yourself, and have the best semester of your college career.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these last four months of often-cheesy, always-informal blog posts as much as I have.
Signing off and vi ses,
Thomas
