The reason for doing this stuff

Studivz, the German Facebook copy, includes a group that is called "I don't need sex because university fucks me every day". I'm not a member as i dislike swearing (normally) but it describes the last years of studying at the TU Braunschweig very well.
This semester is symptomatic for the things that are going on here. I passed the feared exam at Prof. Dr. "Evil" Meinerzhagen with a B-, I got an A at my oral examination in an important course, I even managed to pass the exam "Leitungstheorie" where I forgot some crucial papers to take with me and was sure to fail because of the absence of knowledge - and I failed at the very last one, the one I was prepared best and thought it was ok (don't worry, just have to do it again next semester).
If you look at the achieved grades and consider the fact that a new Professor held the lecture I don't think it's ok when out of 20 people one person has an A, the next one a C- and 8 of 20 persons failed the exam.

So, enough whining, now let's start this entry as I was planning it for quite a long time. I found something floating around my mind on youtube again.

It is a commercial by Vodafone from 2001 if I remember it correctly.



Back in these days I was 17, quite a stereotypical computer geek and indecisive what to do with my future. A friend and I we were selling computer stuff and made a good amount of money while others worked in dirty bars at night or at fastfood restaurant for about 4 Euro an hour while we made 25.
The whole thing lacked just one thing: my goal in life was (and currently is) not getting rich or something but leave steps behind and improve the world I live in. Two things you can't find when you repair "toys" of middle-class computer owners and sell expensive status symbols for people who use high-performance machines for Microsoft Word and internet stuff.
Don't get me wrong, it was a really great experience to run your own small business and earn your own money and sometimes we really had interesting and demanding jobs to do, but certainly not a job to do my whole life.

At this time Vodafone aired this commercial in Europe and I was really impressed. I loved the music theme and felt adressed by the message of this clip. It was one reason for my decision to study communication technologies as I felt that communication is one of the few technology things that have a visible positive effect on people, that communication, especially mobile communication would change the habits of people, that it would change the whole world.

Now it's 2008, about seven years later and I found this video on youtube at random while searching for music clips that might be interesting. And it's still moving. Well, a lot of things have happened in between.
I was in the army for 15 months, working for the first time and getting the sweet taste of a what an interesting and demanding job with the right colleages and a really supporting boss can unleash in yourself.
I found a loving girlfriend who makes me to do my best every day.
And I have the feeling that my decision to study this stuff was right, although it's sometime sooooo disappointing and kicking you in the stomach...

Behind every "I love you" whispered over the phone are one thousand engineers who invented, tested, certified and implented the voice-over-ip codec and the data transport.
It's amazing that I can explain a Malaysian girl in England how to use html tags and work together on a website.
Calling Sara in Sweden, just sitting outside in the sun with my mobile, no problem nowadays =)

I like the feeling of studying something that helps bringing people together. I hope the video clip gives you an impression of this =)

Thank you for listening.