Written by: Jenna Burd | Spring 2025
BU Exchange at SRH Hochschule Heidelberg
If you didn’t know, I’ve been living in Heidelberg, Germany studying international business at SRH Hochschule Heidelberg. My time here runs through May, but I already know I won’t leave the same person who first arrived.
I’m enrolled in courses like Digital Marketing, Sales, International Business Etiquette, Management Information Systems, and German. Each one challenged me in different ways.
In Sales, I’ve learned that marketing to German consumers requires an entirely different skillset. Flashy pitches from cheesy salespeople? Forget about it. Germans value logic, structure, and depth. They appreciate product details, clarity, and trust over some free swag or sweet deal. It’s taught me to respect a slower, more thoughtful sales process and has shown me the power of product knowledge in a pitch.
My MIS class, taught by SAP professionals, has taken me deep into the procurement-to-pay process. I’m not just learning abstract tech theory, I’m understanding how to implement digital tools that will streamline procurement workflows, cut inefficiencies, and support smarter business decisions. It showed me how digital fluency is key in any business function and has given me the framework to implement integrated, automated tools into my business.
And between these classes, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands to sketch out the next chapter of my life. I’ve had the time and space to work on my post-college business plan and refine my long-term goals. When I return, I’ll be enrolled in Butler’s Entrepreneurial Accelerator framework. I can say with full confidence I’m ready to hit the ground running.
As we all know, not all lessons come in the classroom.
At first, being here felt like “standing on the edge of two worlds,” as one quote I came across perfectly put it. Specifically, the life I left behind, and the one that waited just beyond the airport gate.
In the beginning, I felt it all, the excitement, the nerves, the echo of loneliness in a new city where I didn’t know the language or a soul. But something shifted. The silence turned into space.
As @intheworldofmari writes:
“The space you once feared becomes the very thing that makes you feel free.”
That has been the most unexpected gift of all. I’ve had the rare privilege of slowing down life and stepping out of the hyper-productivity loop and into the present moment. In doing so, I’ve begun to notice the quiet beauty that often goes unseen when life moves too fast, like the cherry blossoms that bloom across Heidelberg in early spring, my reflective weekly hikes up the Philosophenweg, and the thoughtful lunch conversations with my German student buddy, who has introduced me to the intimate layers of German culture that no textbook could ever teach.
I used to associate success with speed. Now I know that the most profound growth I’ve experienced happens in stillness.
I keep joking that my bank account has seen better days, but the truth is, I feel like the richest I’ve ever been. Not in euros or dollars of course, but in experience.
I’ve grown into a stronger planner, a more flexible leader, and a better communicator. I’ve organized countless international trips for groups of 10+ people, built itineraries from scratch in cities I’d never stepped foot in, and learned to pivot when adversity struck. I’ve soaked in stories from the souks of Marrakesh to the alps of Switzerland, and every border I’ve crossed has expanded my sense of what’s possible.
There’s a quote by Oscar Wilde that captures this season in my life perfectly:
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
Right now, I’m truly living.
This chapter has been about collecting stories instead of things. Choosing growth over comfort. Discovering wealth is found in moments, connections, and courage.
I’ve learned how to make my home anywhere. People and routines have created a new home through purpose and comfort.
And more than anything, I’ve come to understand this:
“At some point, home stops being a single place… It becomes moments. It becomes people. It becomes you. And once you realize that, you stop searching for home—and start creating it, wherever you go.”
As I continue building my marketing agency and shaping my post-grad path, this experience is giving me more than technical know-how. It’s giving me global perspective, personal resilience, and clarity on what kind of leader and creator I want to be.
I’m not sure who I’ll be when I return. But I know it won’t be the same person who boarded that plane in January. And I think that’s the point.
