It’s one of the hardest and of most important decisions in your whole life – and you may not even be aware of it. But the decision about where you spend a year abroad changes your life, your point of view on the world and you. One of the most important factors that influence you and your time abroad is the school you go to. That’s why I want to write about my experience of being a student in Germany compared to the experience of being a student in the USA.

The biggest difference is the schedule: In my American school, the schedule is the same every day for the whole trimester. That sounds nice and easy, but it only concerns your subjects. The timetable isn’t the same every day: Every Wednesday, there’s an additional period between period one and two, which changes the whole plan. All in all, there are four different timetables.

In Germany, your schedule includes the whole schoolweek, from Monday until Friday. You have different classes on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, etc… But the timetable is always the same: School starts at 7:55 and ends at 13:05 (1:05 pm).

Another big difference is the school spirit. The fact, that there is no German word for ‘school spirit’ shows pretty well what’s the problem – school spirit doesn’t exist in Germany. I was really confused when I first saw all these people wearing shirts with the school print, sport uniforms or other Bengal-blue things to school. In Germany, it’s unusual for a school to have clothes with their name or logo on it. My first pepfest made me really think about this topic: The enthusiasm with which American students and teacers can celebrate themselves and their successes is amazing! It gives every student the feeling, that he’s the part of something big and great. That’s a good feeling. I think I will miss that when I come back to Germany.

It was pretty easy for me to blend in the community of American students – at least in school performance. In Germany, you don’t have to write essays, you don’t have to explain and you don’t have to justify you opinion. All you have to do is a circle (for a multiple choice question) or a draw a line (for a matching test). That’s really easy, and even if there’s a language barriere, my grades are usually as good as the ones of my American classmates.

Overall I would say, school is much more fun in the USA. Could be that it’s more effective in Germany, but that’s not what matters when you spend a year abroad. So if you have the choice, I would always recommend to experience the American school spirit!