Studying the „other way round“

…and why studying in a small town isn’t that bad.

I am Marisa and this is my #afterschoolchallenge

When faced by the question where I should do my studies, I thought of all other cities but Paderborn. As many others, I first thought of the big cities, like Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne; the cities with the exciting nightlife, where there are scenes and where inspiration lurks around every corner. Growing up close to a big city, I always thought of myself more as a city person and never considered moving to the countryside or to a more rural area. Why would I? Cologne was always right outside the door. Now the start of my studies was getting closer and with it the question: „Where should I go? Which universities do I apply to? Where can I find a course that fits my interests?“ So, I went on a search. However, from the beginning on, it was most important to me to find the right course and not the right city.

I can clearly see my future dream

Ich wusste, dass ich gerne etwas im Bereich Medien, Musik und Journalismus machen wollte, allerdings aber noch gar nicht konkret welchen Studiengang. Nach der Schule habe ich nicht direkt angefangen zu studieren, sondern erstmal ein Freiwilliges kulturelles Jahr bei 1LIVE Plan B gemacht, einer Musiksendung im Radio. Nach dem FsJ war ich mir ziemlich sicher, dass ich in diesem Bereich gerne weiterhin bleiben würde, da mir die Arbeit und das Arbeitsumfeld total gut gefallen haben. Schon als Kind war mein Traumberuf einmal Moderatorin zu werden. So war für mich nach dem Schulabschluss nicht erstmal die Frage „Was studiere ich?“ zentral, sondern:

How can I get into an editorial office as quickly as possible?

Affirmed and encouraged by my voluntary year at 1LIVE, I went on a search and applied first to the usual universities and courses. However, I wasn’t 100 % convinced of the „standard courses“ (media science, musicology, journalism). Then, one day, I came across the course „popular music and media“ by chance while googling around. I read the description of the course and it seemed to fit perfectly. The content of the course is a mixture of music and media science, which also covers fields of music journalism, music industry, event management, advertising and marketing. This way the course would prepare you to work in the pop music and media industry. And that is exactly where I wanted to end up later!

And now the catch

The only drawback…Paderborn.I hadn’t eventhought of a city like that at first while choosing my course. But never mind! The course sounded exactly like what I wanted to do, so I applied anyways.

I was accepted. And when the acceptance came, I didn’t care about any of the other universities, eventhose in the big cities, and it was clear to me: I’m going to Paderborn, whatever.

My finding

The most important thing is that I study what fills me with enthusiasm. And now. About a year after I started my studies, shortly before entering the thirdsemester, I can only say that it was absolutely the right decision for me and that the catch Paderborn was not as bad as I thought.

„Partyborn“- yes or no?

I would say “yes”. There are clubs, but not many. Strictly speaking there are three, as far as I know and only one that we go to – the „Wohlsein“. At that club there are often pretty good events. Events like the „Openstage“ are almost “mandatorydates” for us. This is also due to the fact that many friends and people from my course are musicians and are playing in bands that perform there.  

From Berlin to Dortmund – for MJ it was time for a change

“In order to get to know other sides of Germany, I decided to change location. I just needed changes. Especially since you wouldn’t move out of Berlin if it wasn’t for your studies. You have everything else there. I have never been to Dortmund before. 🙂 The only thing I knew was that the city is crazy about soccer. That has been confirmed.”

This is my advice for others who are faced with the

choice of their study location:

„Be open to changes. Even if you are afraid at the beginning and don’t know anyone, at the latest in the seminars you will necessarily get to know people.”

MJ, 27 years old, studies applied linguistics, journalism and sociology in Dortmund. She writes the how to blog and write – column for intombi.

Strictly speaking, Paderborn is not a small town

Although Paderborn is already considered a large city with around 150,000 inhabitants, it doesn’t seem that way. This is not necessarily meant negatively, since the distances are always quite short and you can actually reach everything in a maximum of 15 minutes by bike, since the city center is connected in a concentrated way. In addition, Paderborn is quite idyllic and green. There is a small city center with a cathedral and anold town hall, where you can get anything you need. Besides, in the middle of the city is the Pader-headwater region and not too far away the Pader-meadows, a large park where a river, the Pader, runs through.

This is what awaits you when you choose a small town:

When choosing a small town as a place to study, you should know that naturally you can’t expect the“high life party life” with many clubs and bars, but in exchange you learn to have at least as much funin another way. However, a good circle of friends or at least a few good friends are important so as not to descend into boredom, because otherwise there is not so much going on in a small town… And we don’t want to solely concentrate on our studies, after all, the right student life should not come up short!

Paderborn is currently perfectly fine for studying and a good thing, but for my life in the long run I personally need more diversity to be happy.

How would you have decided? Would the course be more important or less important to you than the place of study?

Your Marisa