Syed Mansoor Ali Shah Bukhari – Alumni "M.A. Roads to Democracies - Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Politics and Culture"

A perspective of an International Student

(speech)

Dear fellow students, respected members of Faculty I and honourable guests, I am jubilant and excited to have the opportunity to be a part of this evening.

I am nervous as well. I had similar feelings a few years ago when I was informed by email that I was accepted for the MA Roads to Democracy program at the University of Siegen.

I was so excited when I sent several emails to the International Office asking the same question over and over again, “When will I receive my admission letter by mail?”

I got a funny email from the International Office which said, “As you have been informed before, your letter has been posted and it will take a few days to reach you. We are sorry that we can't fly with your letter to your address.”

I was finally satisfied with this reply and knew that I was going to a good place.
Finally I arrived in Siegen and I fell in love with the city and the university.
Once, on my way to the university, I met two prospective students who asked me to show them the way to the university.
Reaching the Hölderlin Campus, they said, “It looks like some industry building.” “Hey, careful, this is my university,” I replied.
“This is our university, too, because it’s in Germany”, one of them had a quick reply for me. We shared a laugh or two.
Every experience, good or bad, is a specific box of memory to me. Later on in life we can just open a box and sort of relive the moment. Hopefully, we all collect memory boxes which will bring smiles to our faces later on, every time we will open them.
I still like Siegen as it is. As a small university town, Siegen has a lot to offer for those who are new here. It is a beautiful and peaceful place just like a library.

Sometimes, it can make you sleepy but this also makes it a perfect place to study and learn.
People here are really nice as well. Let me open a box of memory and share it with you.
In my first semester, I had to travel somewhere once with a colleague from work. We met for the first time. He overestimated my German language skills and started a conversation.

At that time, I didn't even speak that much German to politely tell him that I had no idea what we were discussing there.
The only words I could frequently use at that time were “ja” and “achso”. So I must have used them pretty well, I guess, as he kept talking to me while driving for twenty minutes. And then, perhaps, he asked me a question and I replied again with “ja, achso”. He stopped talking to me. He didn’t talk to me for few minutes. He stopped the car at the next rest area, smoked a couple of cigarettes and then started to laugh. We started with our journey again and the rest of the day he was my German language teacher and we shared a lot of smiles.

At the university, people are very friendly and cooperative as well. Professors and teachers provided an atmosphere that encouraged me to learn more and to improve academically. They infused a critical thinking approach into me and enabled me to develop on it. For that, I am thankful to all the faculty members. Specifically, Dr. Lahusen, Dr. Kaiser, Dr. Strünck and my research supervisor, Dr. Baringhorst.

Another thing that, perhaps, has left an everlasting impact on me is that my university has been helping to accommodate more than 400 refugees.

It just makes me prouder to have been a part of this university for the last few years.

I am thankful for the honor of being a part of this evening. Thank you very much!