As I am writing this I am all done with my stay here in Braunschweig! This has been such an amazing experience that has taught me so much about not only linguistics and research conduction, but also about other cultures. I am excited to go home but I am also going to miss this place so much. The lab here was so welcoming. I feel so lucky to have had such helpful advisors and peers. Conducting the research here had many ups and downs, but overall it was a very positive experience. I met my participant goal and I feel like I collected very valuable data. I am excited to begin my analysis next week and to really look at and understand what we have collected. My equipment all works very well and I had very little trouble conducting my sessions.
I am so grateful for this trip for so many reasons. My fellow PIRE students were amazing and I became good friends with them. They made my experience so much better and so much more fun! We had befriended a few students here and two of them became regular people we would spend time with. They helped us so much when it came to learning about the town and public transit and showed us so many things that we never would have known about in Germany. They made this trip so much better and I am sad we have to leave them. I have learned so much about myself on this trip. I knew I was an introvert, so in the beginning I had a hard time being social. Once I learned more German I really became more confident in my interactions. I think knowing the language can make the experience so much more exciting because you have less social anxiety because you know you can communicate. I would love to go back as soon as possible and I feel like I have grown so much as a person by putting myself in situations that made me come out of my comfort zone. I feel so lucky to have had this amazing opportunity!
