Documenting your travels with words and pictures can be a major part of studying abroad. But one UCLA student is going a step further.
Matthias Metternich, a third-year political science and international relations student, is UCLA’s own Internet reality TV star.
Currently studying in Berlin, Germany, Metternich is documenting his year abroad for NBC’s “Junior Year Abroad,” an innovative web-based-program composed of videos and blogs allowing people to follow the adventures of 10 American students studying all over the world.
Metternich is no stranger to the international life. The son of a German diplomat father and a Californian mother, he speaks English, German, and French and has lived everywhere from Bel Air to Ulan Bator, Mongolia and St. Petersburg, Russia.
After completing his secondary education at The German School in Washington, D.C., Metternich was poised to head to a university in the United Kingdom, but found himself being recruited to sing opera at UCLA (he has since switched to the social sciences). Yet for this academic year, he has again changed locales.
“I decided to study abroad because my life until now has been somewhat nomadic, and I enjoy the thrill of new places and new things, new people and new cultures,” Metternich said.
“Studying abroad therefore has somewhat of a different connotation for me, since I regard abroad, as well as my current residence, as home – if that makes sense,” he said.
After choosing Berlin for its student-friendliness and diverse cultural offerings, Metternich was informed about the “Junior Year Abroad” program by an Education Abroad Program counselor at UCLA. He applied, and what began as a whim led to a call from NBC and a sudden trip across the country for an interview.
“I flew to NYC, hung out with the rest of the cast and hung out at NBC Universal,” Metternich said. “Conan (O’Brien) was just down the hall and our photo shoots took place on the Saturday Night Live stage. Insane.”
When asked to do “Junior Year Abroad,” Metternich agreed, partly because of the unconventionality the program – for example, there is no camera crew hounding the participants as they go about their everyday activities. Instead, Metternich documents his own experiences on video, posts photos online and blogs about his adventures. Another perk about the setup is that Metternich decides what to cover and when to cover it.
“There’s a certain flexibility to my work,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t have to work, it simply means that I’m trusted to do my job my way – that’s ultimately also the point of the project. NBC wants us to document our experiences as they happen.”
When Metternich first became involved with “Junior Year Abroad,” he was under the impression that it would be traditionally televised. However, he has come to value the unique opportunity for participant-viewer interaction that the Internet affords.
“Part of me felt that because (“Junior Year Abroad”) would be online, no one would watch it. I couldn’t have been more mistaken,” Metternich said.
“Do I think the Internet is ideal? No. Surprisingly, however, the amount of viewers is pretty high. The reason for this, I believe, is that there exists for one of the first times in entertainment a steady interaction between both the cast and the viewer.
“Wherever there’s an immediate connection (between cast and viewer), one can expect the intentions of the show to be good – and the product to be real and multi-dimensional,” he said.
In fact, the interaction that Metternich speaks of has benefited not only viewers seeking to experience Europe vicariously through Metternich, but also Metternich himself as a student and traveler.
“I’ve received quite a bit of mail from interested viewers suggesting I visit certain places within Berlin, Germany and Europe,” Metternich said. “I can respond either directly, through my blog, or on camera. (Therefore,) I’m motivated to get out here and experience things. I, like many people, have a tendency to kick back and postpone things. With this show, I’m motivated to find out just what it means to live and breathe Berlin.”
Metternich hopes that his participation in “Junior Year Abroad” will do more than show people how interesting life in Berlin can be. Ideally, he wants to show others that going outside of one’s comfort zone can pay dividends – and the sooner that happens, the better.
“If there’s one thing I hope viewers will take away from this show, it’s that we students are in a position now to take off and explore the world,” he said. “It’s not later that studying or going abroad will be more convenient, it’s now.”