two months in munich - christmas reflections

it's 7am on a tuesday morning as i write this. the sun is still not out (not that we get a lot of it), and it's pretty much as dark as 5pm yesterday. this is probably the only thing i don't particularly like about the city.

if you haven't figured it out already, i'm currently pursuing my master's in data science at lmu munich. i reached munich on the 19th of october after dealing with a ton of problems related to obtaining my visa, and i would totally rank that phase as one of the most annoying phases in my life. imagine finding a master's program you would love to be a part of, spending weeks and months preparing for the application and interviews while finishing up your bachelor's thesis, and then also managing to get accepted, only to figure out that you'd be spending the next three months stressing over visa appointments - big bummer.

anyways, i'm so glad that period is over. i have to admit though, i had a shaky start to life in munich. two of my siblings live (and study) in munich which made a lot of the initial things (housing, other administrative stuff) a lot easier for me. however, i was late to join the program, missed the introduction and first week of classes, and was pretty much just recovering from 3 months of constant back and forth, while everyone around me seemed ready to hit the road.

within a couple of weeks, however, i got super comfortable around most people in my class and started to realize how lucky i was to be a part of this incredible group. our data science cohort is made up of 21 people, and since (at least for now) we take all of our classes together, work on projects projects, and also hang out together, it didn't take me long to really start looking forward to going to school (again).

classes at lmu are very different from what i experienced at nyu, both in abu dhabi and new york. most classes i am currently enrolled in are only made up of the 21 people in our cohort, which is similar to how it was at nyu abu dhabi (15-20 people). some classes are a lot bigger, accommodating 100+ students - something i also saw in new york. however, the nature of classes here is far from what i'm used to from nyu. most of the work we do in classes here is optional, i.e. your final grade often only depends on one exam at the end of the year, and you can very much choose not to do anything for the rest of the year. at nyu, however, your grade was always a mix of class participation + quizzes + homework assignments + midterm exams + final exam (and sometimes other stuff if the professor wanted). as an example, i'm enrolled in a statistical reasoning and inference class this semester, which is part one of a two-class series. our grade for the two classes combined will be based on an oral exam (30 minutes) at the end of the academic year. never in my life could i have imagined doing something like this at nyu.

outside the classroom, i absolutely love living in munich. one of the things i really missed in the uae was exposure to nature in everyday life. in munich, my classes are 10 minutes away from the famous englischer garten, and i live a couple of minutes away from the olympiapark. i often find myself going for a long walk in one of the parks or eating snacks by a pretty lake while i enjoy the sunset after classes. also, i still have the time to do this since i'm nowhere close to being as busy as i was in abu dhabi. my typical day in abu dhabi would start at 9am and end around 8pm, and sometimes i really miss being that level of busy. however, i have a lot of things coming up to keep me busy - learning the language, meeting more people, and hopefully getting a job i like. plus, i don't expect my classes to make me feel like i don't have much to do for a lot longer. until then, i'm happy to have fun!