I always wanted to study in a big city.

Drinking nights where students can drift, interesting people everywhere and thousands of opportunities for personal development.

At least that was my ideal of megacities like Berlin or Cologne.

In my university town, on the other hand, you could bump into your own professor shortly after one in your favorite pub, knew every restaurant in town and always met the same people at shared flat parties.

I lived in such a place for four years, felt very comfortable and yet: I wanted something different.

The start of my master’s degree came at the right time for my long-awaited change of location.

After all, many students would start there again and some even move extra.

Accordingly, the probability of finding a connection quickly seemed relatively high.

And anyway: no other time in life would ever be more suitable for starting a new life.

So I spent hours finding out about a wide variety of courses, weighing up the pros and cons of the associated new adopted country and finally applying.

Full of anticipation, I was looking forward to the day when the notifications were to be sent out and finally it was there - the admission for my master's degree in a city of millions.

Commuter existence to WG casting

In order not to have to start my new life homeless, I wrote to a lot of shared flats.

For weeks I ran from one audition audition to the next, commuting back and forth between my new and old home and paying huge sums for train tickets.

At the flat share appointments, I rattled off small talk phrases, answered every question, no matter how strange, about my private life, was amazed more than once how much you could pay for a nine square meter shoebox and had to realize that looking for an apartment in a big city was everything other than fun.

But finally, after almost two months of fierce fighting on the housing market, I was offered a room.

So there was hardly anything standing in the way of my new life.

But the closer I got to starting my studies and moving to the new city, the more nervous I got.

Suddenly I saw my old life with different eyes: my roommates, who had been more family than friends in the last few years, my best friends from college: we had all changed together from insecure freshmen to self-confident bachelor graduates.

Nervous breakdowns before the much too difficult exam, study sessions and cake breaks in my favorite café, the kebab shop on the corner downtown, the park where I used to run for years.

So many memories hung like soft veils in my old town.

So many emotions held me back when I really wanted to move forward.

What if I can't make new friends?

If my studies turn out to be a failure or if I simply don't feel comfortable in the new, unfamiliar environment?

What if I just can't let myself drift in the new city, but just get lost?

All these thoughts were running around in my head a few days before my move and suddenly kept my anticipation in check.

A plan against the fears

Eventually, I put a stop to my horror scenarios and wrote myself a plan that would banish my fears and help me ease into big-city life.

First of all, I decided to look for a hobby so that I could get in touch with people outside of the university.

At the same time, I wanted to find a part-time job to remain financially secure.

Lastly, I talked to friends and family.

Everyone encouraged me in my decision to move and reminded me that my impending new beginning already had parallels to my past: I had also moved to a new city for my bachelor's degree.

And there, too, I managed not only to find an apartment and friends, but also to build a home for myself.

So I would do it again.

On to new shores!