Hi everyone! I’m back with an update on my time abroad! This past week, we had German language classes for two hours in the morning every weekday. I can confidently say I know about 15 more words in German than I did going in! Lucky for me, most people speak English as well. That’s another difference from the USA that I have personally noticed — much more of the population here is multilingual.

After language class on Wednesday, we had the pleasure of meeting and hearing from Kai Whitacker, a member of the German Bundestag (the Federal Parliament) and also of the German-USA Parliamentary Friendship Group. It was quite interesting hearing about his work, as well as how the political dynamics between the USA and Germany have shifted since our current president took office. 

After language class on Thursday, we had another amazing experience — meeting with a representative from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. This was particularly interesting to me, as both the German and European economic trends and energy transition efforts will be highly relevant to my internship this summer. We learned about the structure of the federal departments in Germany, as well as some of the specific responsibilities each of them have. It was surprising to me to hear how much the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy had invested in both renewable energy projects, as well as in specific TSOs (Transmission System Operators) to support efforts to stabilize the German energy grids. I think this is certainly something the USA should consider focusing more resources towards. It’s critical both to stabilize energy grids in light of the exponentially growing AI-related data center energy needs, and to facilitate the transition to renewable energy sources to save our environment across the globe for generations to come.

After language class on Friday, we had my favorite part of the programming thus far — going to the Deutsche Bundesbank and speaking with Ken Wroblewski. Mr. Wroblewski gave us an overview of the institutional structure of the Eurosystem, and also made ample time for us to ask questions towards the end. As a student of both economics and finance, and having primarily studied the US central banking system as opposed to any foreign institutional structures, this was extremely interesting to me and, not to mention, valuable knowledge for me as well. One contrast between the Eurosystem and the U.S. central banking system that I found quite interesting was their purpose. While the U.S. Fed has a dual mandate of maintaining price stability & maximum employment, the Eurosystem only has one primary focus — maintaining price stability. This is an interesting difference, but adding on something else I learned from Mr. Whitacker on Wednesday — Germany offers unemployment income (tied to inflation and average wages) as long as you prove you’re actively seeking a job — it makes sense that their focus is less on supporting maximal employment via economic growth.

All of these programmed experiences highlighted something I already know is important to success in any industry — being passionate. Every representative we had the opportunity to speak with was extremely passionate about their work, which is something that personally resonates with me. I believe it’s important to have passion for the work I do, as this makes it both more motivating and rewarding. For the industry I’m working in this summer, venture capital in the energy-technology sector, this is true for me. I fully believe in the importance of transitioning to renewable energy and investment in related technology as a crucial part of making this transition widely accessible. This has made me already quite passionate about the work I will be starting tomorrow — I’ve already researched all of Vireo’s portfolio companies, and they have extremely interesting and innovative products. Generally speaking, I think some traits that are key to success in the VC industry are attention to detail, critical thinking, and determination to learn. In Germany, I think it will also be extremely important for me to seek clarification as questions may come up during my work, because working across a slight language barrier requires everyone to be assuredly on the same page. I can’t wait to get started working tomorrow, and I’ll be back with another update next week! Auf wiedersehen!