Better three than none

It's been 5 months since I came to Berlin (8 years since I left Spain!) after 4.5 unforgettable years in Frankfurt am Main. I came here with two objectives: one was to learn German and the second one to think about my future in the mid-term, what to do after this sabbatical year, probably conditioning the rest of my life. Yes, I want to stay in Germany but I want to study again. And I don't mean just German, I mean proper higher education. For this purpose I have managed to save some money throughout the years since I started working back in 2004. That will put me back through uni.

I think I am doing well with the first objective. I am learning German and, although it is hard for me to see the difference day after day, I smile when I see the mistakes I was making last October. We repeated recently an exercise that we did a few months ago (I did really bad then) and this time it was surprisingly much better. Actually, I don't find the German grammar as difficult as people say, honestly! But what really drives me crazy is the vocabulary. I find extremely difficult to remember words. They all look the same to me...! I also find difficult to speak, but that's improving very slow too; I just don't have many chances to speak out of the classroom. And I think I do quite well with the writing as long as I've got a dictionary with me. I'm even considering writing a little bit in German on the blog in the next months; not yet a whole post translation, but maybe some summary. I think I would retain more vocabulary if I actually need to use it to express myself rather than just to do the homework or read boring texts. I also want to start in March to go more regularly to a nearby library after school to do my homework there and spend a couple of hours more everyday just reading books, comics, magazines, watching films and listening to audiobooks. That, the gym and the online courses about programming that I am doing keep me quite busy (= happy) and take most of my time. Ok, I'm on the right path with my German learning and the management of my free time to make the most of it.

However, I am not doing this just for the sake of doing it. Yes, somehow it's a reward, a prize, a treat to myself, a whole year where I want doing what I want. But on the other hand, I do it because I want to stay in Germany at least some more years, so it's linked to the second objective. For that, I want/need to study. Thinking about what to do next is taking a lot of my time as well. I've been going through endless sites of universities checking all their masters programs and, to my dismay, I haven't found much that suits me. Sure, there are some really interesting things to study but I have to keep a few things in mind before I decide: a) I prefer to study in English because, even if I learn good German, I hesitate it will be good enough to really understand well what I would learn in a university; b) it has to be interesting and motivating for me; c) it has to be useful and have a demand enough so I can be employable once I finish; d) and it should ideally have something to do with what I have done so far -it would be a pity if my degree in Art History, my career as an archaeologist and my years in Nintendo were not useful and I had to start again from 0 in another discipline. Taking these parameters into account, I observe at the moment three possibilities. All three have their pros and cons, like always in this life, and I would like to read/hear your opinion. Here they are:


Master of Science in Digital Humanities, Trier

Pros:

• Digital Humanities sound perfect to me, at least in theory. My passion is IT, but my academical and most of my professional background is in humanities. This masters programme tries to join both disciplines in one. People from IT learn a bit about history, literature, art, philosophy... and people from humanities, like me, would learn a bit about programming, data bases, web design, data mining... Then there are other subjects where we all study together how to apply the knowledge about IT in order to work on humanities. As a friend of mine pointed out very well, it's like the left half of the brain connecting with the right half; a perfect combination for me.
• It's free, no costs. You only have to pay the semester fees of the university (which include things like the students transport card).
• It takes 4 semesters and you have to do a project on the fourth.
• I think I could potentially find a job in different places as long as they were related to heritage like museums, institutions, libraries... but also other fields like software testing.
• There are not many candidates.

Cons:

• It's officially in German, although it has some subjects in English. The lady with whom I got in contact by email said that approximately 30% of the (compulsory) subjects were in English, 20% in German and the rest would depend on what I choose, the professor and the other students, but the programme is officially in German. If I want to study in German, I must pass first a specific exam to prove that I can have higher education in this language. The earlier I do the exam, the less ready I will be and chances to pass. I could do it in September right before the semester starts but the problem is, what happens to me if I fail? I will be fucked up. I will be leaving my place at the end of September and, if I fail the exam, I will have nowhere to go and nothing to do. I would have another chance in April 2016 but no place where to live and also I would waste 6 months living on my savings for nothing instead of being in the university. Of course, I could find a simple job, but that's not so "simple" and could take months as well.
• Another con is the quality of the IT part. I mean, they will teach you some stuff from computing science but without all the hardcore mathematics, just basic stuff. However, I am not sure about how much sense this makes, because computer science is, after all, hardcore mathematics. Won't it be too shallow?

Master of Arts in Game Development and Research, Cologne

Pros:

• It's entirely in English.
• It's very interesting and taught in the Cologne Games Lab, which has a strong focus on videogames.
• It is part-time, with only a day and half of lectures per week and lots of work to do on your own and also to have a part-time job, which would be great from a financial point of view.
• As far as I've been told, the competition to get a place is not very strong.
• It takes 4 semesters.

Cons:

• It's not free. As well as the semester fees, there is an additional 850€/semester. It is still affordable and not too expensive but a lot more than the other options.
• It is a bit conceptual... a bit too "creative"... little practical. It seems to focus on game design, which would be the most interesting path for me in the videogames industry (instead of programming and game arts), but I am not very sure about the real chances to find a job afterwards. This is an expanding industry but this master doesn't seem to give you so many professional skills.
• The fact that there is so much free time -although part of it is to work on your own- makes me also hesitate about the "quality & quantity" of the topics taught in this program. It's only one and a half days per week... The rest depends on your creativity and your own research. There is surely not much you can learn compared to other programs that keep you longer in the classroom.
• After the application is sent, there is a selection process which includes a small project that you have to "develop" in one month. If they are interested, they call you for an interview.

Bachelor of Arts in Digital Games, Cologne

Pros:

• It's also taught entirely in English.
• It's also taught in the Cologne Games Lab.
• Sounds like a very exciting field to work with good professional prospects in a rapidly developing industry.
• It is creative as well as demanding, definitely not boring.
• It has three possible paths to focus: games informatics, games arts and games design.
• It's full time, so it should go deep into every topic and really give you a good insight of them.
• Part of the study (like it is normal in Germany) includes an internship, so it is practical as well as theoretical. It gives me the impression to really make you put your hands on the topic, versus the more conceptual aspect of the masters.
• It's free, apart from the small university fees (around 250€/semester, which includes the public transport card) present in every other programme.
• It has everything I want.

Cons:

• Like the masters programme, there is a selection process and this is way harder. There is a lot of competition for this bachelor and they tend to look for people with a profile different to mine. They put more emphasis on creativity and my professional/academical background is everything but creative.
• The biggest "con" of all: if everything goes ok, it takes 7 semesters to complete, that is to say 3.5 years. I'm not sure I've got enough money saved for such a long time. Cologne is not a cheap city and, since the bachelor is full-time, there would be little or no room to have a part-time job at the same time. Yes, I would have enough for a couple of years and then some "safety net" until I find a job, but 3.5 years (or more if I fail) is A LOT.

So, here are the present options. They could be more, as I keep an eye on the study offers I see. Besides, knowing myself, it could also happen that I do something totally different in the end after months of beating around the bush... The wise thing would be to go for all three programmes, of course, as chances are that some may not work out, but I have my doubts. I can't present the same project in the selection process if I apply for both the master and the bachelor programmes in Cologne, they ask for different things. And presenting two projects could mean "two mediocre projects", lowering the chances. However, the most interesting for me has more competition and... Argh!!