My junior year abroad, as part of Stetson University’s program in Freiburg, Germany, will always mark one of the best years of my life.
I was in Berlin in November 1989 with my fellow Stetson classmates, just days before the Berlin Wall fell and German reunification took place. Also, the German national soccer team won the World Cup in 1990, where I attended two of the team’s games in Milan, Italy. However, the highlight of my stay in Germany was taking a glider plane ride over the majestic Black Forest.
Located in the southwestern corner of Germany bordering Switzerland and France in the Black Forest, Freiburg boasts something that no other German city has – the most sun days per year in Germany. The city’s history, which dates back to the 11th century, is evident in its historic buildings, narrow cobblestone streets and of course, Muenster (Cathedral).
It was not until I arrived in Freiburg that I found that of the roughly 300,000 inhabitants, more than 100,000 were students at “The Uni”, the name its students affectionately refer to Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg. Yet, I feel the advantage Freiburg has over any large university in the US is its global reach and cultural diversity in attracting international students from 120 nations due to its geographical location and top-notch academics. In 2012, Freiburg Universitaet was ranked the best German university.
The best thing that the Freiburg program taught me was to have a real dialogue on different cultural and political ideas with Germans, Iranians, Turks, etc., while at the same time being the best ambassador I could for my country in educating students from other nations about the equality, individualism and private free enterprise that makes the US truly great.
Surprising to me was that my German major played more of a role than my political science major in landing my first job with a German commodities company in Manhattan in 1991. With this global corporation, Ruhrkohle Trading, I travelled the world continuing to build on the lessons I learned at Freiburg Universitaet in respecting other viewpoints and cultures. This greatly assisted in my successfully negotiating with foreign cultures across the globe, Brazil, China, Japan, South Africa, etc. in the trade of seaborne cargoes of natural resources.
I have worked for three companies, Ruhrkohle Trading, Evolution Markets and Wood Mackenzie, for 12 years in Manhattan as well as three years for a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal in Baltimore. The remainder of my career has been spent in home-based trading or advisory commodities businesses for global financial firms.
It is my belief that every student should take advantage of a semester or year abroad as part of their tertiary education in order to gain better linguistic skills and more importantly, a better understanding of foreign cultures and how other countries operate. Stetson University offers the best foreign exchange program available in unlocking this invaluable educational experience – Freiburg.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Markus Bates grew up in Darien, Conn. and earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science and German from Stetson University in 1991.
After earning his degree at Stetson University, Markus distinguished himself by leading operations for trading companies that resulted in becoming the largest exporter of steel raw materials from China for close to a decade. Overall, he has held senior executive positions in the trade of global commodities for 13 years. In 2011, he attained an ongoing education graduate degree in accounting from Sacred Heart University.
Today, Markus lives in Ridgefield, Conn. with his 13-year-old son and runs his own management consulting firm. He enjoys coaching youth sports, skiing and swimming.