After coming to Germany, one of the things I struggled quite a bit was the adjustment to the University of Bremen. Even though the University of Bremen is considered a medium-sized university, but after studying at Hobart and William Smith with just ~2400 students, it was big enough to push me outside my comfort zone. At HWS, you live with people you attend classes with, you see and interact with the same people every day, and it is very easy to meet people and make new friends. However, the University of Bremen is a totally different story; the university has about 20,000 students (including Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D.) and around 3500 faculty and staff members. I did not realize how big the university is until I entered Mensa, the main dining hall of the campus, for the first time and saw about ~300 people in the hall. I had no idea where to get food from, who to ask, how to pay, etc. However, as time passed by and as I learned more and more about the university, it became easier to navigate, meet people and make new friends. The more I learned about the university, the more it inspired me to dig deeper. For that reason, I chose to make a project at the University in my filmmaking course. The project includes 3 stages; researching on the university, coming up with a film idea and, at the end of the semester, shooting a short film. We already done with the first two stages and, now, working towards our final stage i.e. shooting the film. The best part of this course is that there are just two students (including me) in the course, therefore, most of the lecture period consists of a general discussion around the issues the global community is currently facing and how we can make people aware of those issues through our film. During the research stage, I got to learn a lot of amazing things about the university. Just a little background of the university; the University of Bremen was founded in 1971 for the purpose of teacher training, however, since the beginning, it focused on interdisciplinary learning, research-based learning, and orientation to the practice and social commitment. In the 1980s, the university expanded and new faculties for natural science and engineering were established. During that time, the University started cooperation with newly founded Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Ocean Research in Bremerhaven and created Technologie Park in late 1980s. During my research for my filmmaking class, I tried to focus more on the University’s initiatives like Technologie Park which played a major role in improving the University’s research ranking, gaining national recognition and establishing a number of endowment professorships. Since the creation of Technologie Park, the place has developed an area of 174 hectares into one of the most advanced high-tech and research centers in Northern Germany. Now more 500 companies and research institutes, including some of the most accomplished institutes like the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology work tirelessly on different projects varying from virtual exploration on Mars to exploring the deepest parts of the ocean. The short distance between the university’s campus and the companies allow students to easily learn about the industry and get hands-on experience. Not only that, if a student has an idea for an initiative, they can pitch it to the famous Bremen Innovation Technology Center which is in walking distance from the University. The University of Bremen also includes a 146 meters high Drop Tower which offers exceptional microgravity conditions. It is one of its kind in Europe and has received international recognition. Due to its high-quality conditions of weightlessness, scientists from all over the world come to carry on experiments here. After the installation of the catapult system, the experiment duration has been increased to 9.3 seconds which is unmatched by any other drop tower facility in the world. The United States has some of the most successful tech companies in the world which are carrying out amazing experiments and taking exceptional initiative all the time. However, I believe, there are not many universities that are connected to the tech industry and the research fields as the University of Bremen is to the tech industry in Bremen. We all know how fast technology advances and it is not easy to keep up with it. We sometimes see that students are being taught outdated knowledge and, therefore, after graduation, it is difficult for them to find a job which requires the skills and knowledge they gained in their universities. For instance, it is known fact that Python is the strongest and most used programming language, however, in many colleges and universities across the States (including HWS), it is still not being taught. I believe, if something similar to the Technologie Park is developed in the United States, the communication between the education sector and the industry can be improved, hence, resulting in less mismatch between the skills of the students and the skills needed by the industry.
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