James McCarty - The Last Semester

To conclude the fall semester, I decided to attend graduation. There were many of my friends within the Applied Psychology major that walked across the stage, and it was really a life changing moment for me. It made me realize that I only had one semester left at Penn State Berks–one last semester of classes, one last semester of near and dear friends, one last semester of memories. I have taken a different approach to my last semester: I have been living life in overdrive for my past seven semesters, and I am really planning to take in as much as possible throughout my last semester. I have really alleviated my cluttered schedule to enjoy the limited time I have remaining.

This year has truly been a blessing to me. I applied to study abroad in Germany, and was selected to be a part of the trip. I went on the same trip last year, and had one of the best experiences of my life. We will be spending twenty-two days in southern Germany in different schools. We will be in different types of schools in different cities, which will include visiting Freiburg University in Freiburg, an elementary school in Melsungen (Christian-Bitter Schule), and a middle school in Hanau (Die HoheLandesSchule). We will also be visiting some of Germany’s most cultural antiquities, which include King Ludwig of Bavaria’s fairytale castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, as well as the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

This will be a phenomenal experience, which will benefit me in numerous ways for my future. I hope to become a psychologist in a private practice, as well as a college professor. This experience will help to give me a more globalized outlook within the two fields I hope to work in. Even up through my last days as a Penn State Berks student, I will still be making memories that will last a lifetime!