January and February were full of studying and exams. To set the scene a little bit, finals (Klausuren)�in Germany work a little differently than in American colleges. Here, Klausurenare usually worth 100% of your grade. �Finals week� takes place during a span of two weeks. All of the students in the same major take the same classes, so the finals for every student are scheduled with a minimum of one day between each final. During this time, every student in engineering pretty much goes on major locking-themselves-in-the-library study mode.

On the plus side, students have three chances to pass each class. Some classes are based on projects and others on Klausuren. If the student chooses, he or she can put off the Klauser�until the next exam period without penalty. The next exam period is about three weeks after the first two weeks, and those who failed the first exam can also retake the exam during the second exam period. If the students fail three exams, they have the option of taking an oral exam; if they fail that, they are no longer permitted to study in that major. Scary!

After study tons and taking my exams, everything worked out! Next, I went on a trip to visit a friend in Barcelona. It was so great to have a break from school and get a breath of warm weather! On the other side of things, it was so hard to say good-bye to friends, but I already have plans to see some of them again. I’m so happy to call them my friends.