Crunch Time | Lowell Denver

A rather hefty work load lies between me and my flight to Copenhagen on Monday: Two blog entries, a reflective essay, journals, and for the icing on the cake, our final project. It was those exact words above that flowed into my head as I arose a tad before eight on a chilly morning in Brannenburg, Germany.

After my go to breakfast of eggs and a slice of bread, I made my way to the classroom by nine to begin the day with discussions and a daily update about assignments from Mrs. Davis. The message was much clearer than the dismally rainy day: it’s go time. A speedy overview of our tour from the BMW FIZ Research and Development Center and I was off with my group working on our final project.

The last time I laid eyes on a blog I was still jet lagged from a seven-and-a-half-hour flight. To say things have changed much since then would be quite the understatement. Thus, with merely hours to go before I say goodbye to it all, a part of me just isn’t ready to. At the end of the day, a great group of friends and an amazing experience in a foreign country can make any assignment afterwards worth the while. Brannenburg is an absolutely beautiful city, and the view from my hotel room alone has to be one of the prettiest sites I have ever seen.

Nevertheless, our project isn’t going to finish itself, and the rush to get it done in a timely manner is on. It took a while for our group to get moving, but we’re rolling now. I’m really excited with how everything is panning out and I’m confident our final product will be nothing short of excellence. I forgot how much I really enjoy working collectively with a group. Although I’m not really the outgoing type, I always love accepting the challenge of coordinating with others to try and create something that meets everyone’s satisfaction as well as the requirements.

The monotony of our strenuous work day was interrupted by a trip to a local bakery to eat some delicious cake after lunch. It’s times like these that really make a trip in my opinion, because only here does one really get to bond with the rest of the group and create memories that will stick for years to come. As I look out my window in this quaint but luxurious hotel located in the German Alps for one last time, I can think of no other way I would have rather spent this last month of my life.