Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Plan B



The Reckoning is Upon Us.

Not really, but law school exams are on the horizon, which are the stress equivalent of the horn of plenty. I had a good exchange with another law student about how these first year courses are probably the most important despite being classes you are the least interested in. I did some legal reading a few weeks ago on topic that really interested me (the stuff my international law post was based on) and was amazed how much easier and enjoyable it was to read (i.e. I had forgotten it can actually be fun doing work when it interests you.

Anyway, it is times like these that I like to have a plan B. I stumbled upon my current one over the weekend. As you may or may not know/care about a masters in Eastern European/Russian Studies is something I would very much like to acquire at some point. It isn't a degree terribly helpful to employment unless you already have a relevant work experience or a more career oriented degree. It's a factor making the taking on the $80,000 worth of debt a little hard to swallow.

Well the Free University of Berlin has an Eastern European Studies Masters program. With the former Russian presence in Berlin the Russian course offering are quite good, in addition to courses on law in various Eastern European countries, Russian political history and cultural history, and Georgian language classes! Perhaps the best elements are that I could write the masters thesis in English (fine with the classes being in German and doing classwork in German, but if I need to try and say something new in a long-ass thesis I have a better chance of doing it English), and it would only cost 260 euro a year!

I am not saying I am going to do it, but it nice to have a fallback plan you really like. I liked Berlin, it is pretty comfortable for me and I have studied at the university before /know a lot of the faculty. It isn't the same quality of an American program, but I wouldn't have to stack up any debt. Huzzah for alternatives!


2 comments:

Alexia said...

pjsrWill you whip out Plan B the morning after exams?? :)

I actually like the back-up! Sounds like your program, in your preferred geographical area, and its debt free! Can you really go there as an American and pay so little per year? Now THAT sounds like a Fellini dream sequence!

If you'd like to work at the UN or for the EU or anything like that, I don't see what's not feasible about Plan B. Might even be better. Start making those mob contacts now, Vito!

When is your semester over anyway? I'd like to give you your Christmas gift before you go back to Kansas, Dotrathy!

Barbarossa said...

I finish on the 20th, but if you are up for it I would actually like to do some crazy Christmas city hijinks for a couple of days. At Colombia I always finished exams right before I needed to go home and never got to do any of the fun stuff (having blocked out Christmas to get work done). I want to go see the tree at Rockefeller center and see Santa at Macy's (have you read that David Sedaris story)?

Can't work for the EU until I have citizenship, but I like my back up plan. Oddly, today I learned many other people in my class had drop out plans too.

You can't pay so little for everything, but for a lot of graduate programs in German it is just the semester fee (which includes a semester metro card!, You do have to be proficient in German though which disqualifies a lot people though. Also, I think since the government know Germans don't have children anymore it is a way of recruiting educated immigrants.