A Journey of Perseverance: Overcoming Obstacles to Pursue Higher Education in Germany

This story dates back to 2002 and 2003. The decision to do my Masters's abroad, in Germany, was more of a necessity than a dream. It is undoubtedly one of the most complex decisions I ever took, as India and Germany are geographically on different continents and culturally separate. It was also very unusual for an Indian to choose a country with a foreign language other than English. Being a single child without siblings made it even more challenging to decide. In this blog, I will go through the reasons and the struggles in detail. I will also highlight how that decision changed my life and whether it was worth it.

Overcoming Political Turmoil and Financial Hurdles:

In my previous blog, where I celebrated my 20 years of life in Germany, I mentioned that my Bachelor's degree BCA was in a political fight with a B.Tech degree. That political turmoil was indeed going out of control. The implicit Master's degree MCA was behind in the syllabus. We were not qualified for M.Tech. A new Master's degree was proposed, called MSCIS, but it would only serve the existing BCA graduates and then go into nirvana. In the hiring classifieds of the software companies, there was a statutory warning which read, "BCA's need not apply". The political fight was ruining the future of thousands of students. The degree was legitimate and reasonable, but it was destroyed purposefully due to political conflicts—none of the existing options made sense to me.

I started enquiring about higher education in different countries. The USA, UK and Australia were popular but also very expensive. They were unaffordable to me. EU was considered due to the low costs; Germany especially caught my eye. The DAAD university representatives landed in Hyderabad the previous week and were doing marketing rounds for the German universities. Their marketing stank. They had no plan and were utterly unprepared for the Indian crowd. They gave arrogant answers to all the questions and expected Indian students to return to their home country when their studies were finished. At first, it didn't make any sense to us. The whole point of studying in a good college is to get a better placement. If there is no possibility of searching for a job, then there is no point in going at all. The representatives were shocked and disappointed but noted the questions and concerns and returned for a 2nd round, which was much better.

I started researching and finalising the Furtwangen university of applied sciences. It was reputed, had good alumni and had bright prospects for its students. However, the admission wasn't easy. Students had to clear the B1 level of German to qualify. I thought about it hard as I didn't know much about Germany. I only knew three things about Germany. The 1st was the second world war, the 2nd was Mercedes-Benz, and the 3rd one was Steffi Graf. That's it. Nothing more. With such a piece of minimal information in the pre-social-media era, I had to make a life-changing decision. But my family's financial conditions and education's political situation made me do so. I desperately wanted to get self-dependent as soon as possible without taking massive credit. Even the college fees of Furtwangen and the embassy requirement of 8000€ was a mammoth task at that time as it was almost 40 times more than my existing college fee in India.

Banks were not ready to give me a loan because I had no property documents. I had to get a loan without those papers. Even though legally, the banks didn't require property documents for a loan below 8000€, they still demanded one. I had to fight tooth and nail to get the work done. I even quarrelled with bank managers. After much resistance, they finally agreed on 50% to get rid of me. It was a make-or-break situation. I had to give all in.

Taking the Leap: How I Fulfilled My Dream of Studying Abroad Despite the Risks:

On one side, I was fighting hard to achieve my goal; on the other, I knew it was a huge gamble and a risk to leave friends and family behind to get a college degree. There were seemingly risk-free alternatives, but they weren't convincing to me. Getting admission into Furtwangen wasn't easy either. The university demanded a B1 certificate in German. Hyderabad didn't have the Goethe (Max Mueller Bhavan) by then. Our German teacher Mr Sekhar offered to teach the Goethe syllabus, but we had to write the exam in Chennai. We were the second batch of German learning students. We made such a wave that the newspaper Times of India came to interview us. An article about us aspiring to go to Germany for higher studies was written. Our German course lasted for 6 hours daily for a total duration of 6 months. We cleared the exam with flying colours.

Parallely, I got in touch with a consultant who studied in Furtwangen before and got to know the process in and out. Let's call the consultant Mr B for data privacy reasons. He was strict and would practically choose his students. He doesn't accept anyone just for money. I secured my admission with his guidance. I got my Passport, prepared all the necessary documents and went for stamping. My papers were technically and legally correct but didn't meet the expectations of the consulate. I argued with her about that in German, and was confident I didn't commit anything wrong. She smiled and said, "You are a perfect fit; welcome". I knew that my visa would be stamped. The guy standing behind me in line was stunned that I could converse in German and had the guts to argue with the consulate. I just wished him the best of luck and left shortly.

While this happened, I never had time to look at what bothered my parents. As I took all the decisions almost alone, without discussing anything with anyone, and none of us had any Idea about life in Germany, it all looked fuzzy to them. This is a pre-social-media era, and there was frankly no way we could get first-hand information about anything. We could only write emails to college seniors who moved before us. It's an asynchronous communication channel, which doesn't provide sufficient information to make life decisions. I just took the chance with blind confidence in myself.

The Trade-Offs of Pursuing Higher Education Abroad:

I genuinely had no idea what I would lose if I left my home country. It was all ignored, from the bonding with family and friends to the cultural aspects, as I had a different goal to achieve. I barely knew how to book a flight ticket, yet I hardly cared about it. Nothing was more important than securing a safe and sound Master's. My parents started feeling the void as I was leaving. I couldn't help much. Even after coming to Germany, none of my struggles could rattle me an inch till the final degree came into my hands. When the Master's was about to finish, a job had to be secured. It was mandatory. Otherwise, I had to leave Germany the next day after my course finishing date. I was able to secure a job, but just one day before closing time. Once my Master's was complete, and my job was secured, the emotions slowly returned. I started to miss my parents, close friends, cultural events and heritage, etc.

My fluency in the German language blinded me to certain cultural aspects, as I could blend in quite easily. Language and food were the main culprits that made people uncomfortable in a new place. I am fluent in German, and I can cook well. So, I overcame them without my knowledge. As and when time flew by, the impact of staying abroad became stronger and stronger. I could not help family and friends in their time of necessity. Help was available through other means, and we somehow pushed through, but it is certainly not the same if I were there physically. To achieve this profound understanding of life and to analyse the trade-offs, one has to experience it personally. No matter how many people write about it, it won't be the same, as every individual is willing to trade off something else for the high-priority thing he/she wants. The only way to not have any trade-offs in life is to be filthy rich. If you are starting from a lower middle class and have to climb up the ladder, trade-offs are necessary.

I want to highlight the most critical trade-offs that impacted me all these years.

Bonding with family and friends back home:

Bonding inevitably is the first to be affected. People on both sides will start living without each other and try to find solutions that are not dependent on each other. It will neither break nor go bad. It weakens. It might still be good, but it will not be as strong as before, and you must start living with reality. Cousins became older, settled with their families, and met often; we will not be part of it. I hardly know even the names of all the kids of the cousins. I was neither part of their weddings nor part of their get-togethers. I did visit India every single year without missing a single time. After a few years, I was also able to go twice. It helps in keeping the bonding healthy, up and running.

Cultural heritage and legacy in the context of the upbringing of kids:

As a first-generation immigrant, I have the advantage of having a true identity. But the second generation suffers from an Identity crisis. Raising kids in a similar cultural environment as our's is near to impossible in Germany due to smaller Indian communities. This also stems from the fact that this is a non-English speaking country, and Indians generally tend to choose English-speaking nations as their primary destination. Exposure to festivals will give them a social life, and they get to know why the festival is being celebrated, but they will not have the same emotional bonding as yours. This is quite a deal-breaker for many, as it injects fear that the bonding levels between parents and kids will also get affected, as kids tend to abide by values from society, which might differ from ours.

The decision to study or live abroad is not for everyone, as individual preferences and priorities shall play a significant role in taking the decision. Not every country is everyone, either. There is no right or wrong decision, good or bad country, better or worse lifestyles. Everything is relative and has to be evaluated according to its priorities. Sometimes you will get results, and sometimes you will gain experience!

Perseverance alone is overrated and doesn't guarantee you any success. Sometimes you need to learn to quit at the right time. Otherwise, it will be a terrible situation. It's the people whom you meet on your journey, who will shape your experiences and will bail you out of difficult situations. Hence the combination of perseverance and attitude towards people is the killer combination!

See you soon!