“It's very interdisciplinary,” said senior Sydney Reimer of the graduate program she will begin in Berlin this fall. “[I]t feels like it's going to draw on my background here [at UCLA] and help me apply that a bit more to active practices and make tangible impacts on the community.”

By Victoria Salcedo

UCLA International Institute, June 13, 2025 — Graduating senior Sydney Reimer (UCLA 2025) has always been guided by curiosity, creativity and a desire to make meaningful connections between culture, history and music. At UCLA, she found an environment to pursue those interests through a unique academic combination: double-majors in musicology and European studies, with a minor in German.

Raised in Fresno, Reimer attended a small K–12 school where the arts were a central part of the curriculum. “I was in a jazz band… I did music, I did orchestra… I would do studio all day on Fridays, so I’d spend hours just painting,” she recalled. While she loved music, she knew early on that her passion didn’t lie in performance, but in learning, reading and theory. UCLA’s musicology program offered exactly what she was looking for.

Pairing musicology with European studies gave her the interdisciplinary approach she craved. German language study, which she began for fun in high school, became a third thread in her academic tapestry. “All three of my majors and minors complement each other very well,” she added.

“Some of the best courses I’ve taken here have been [in] European studies,” she reflected. “I think partially because they are such small courses, they’re typically seminars… I’ve taken [courses in] film, geography, sociology, anthropology, political science.” The interdisciplinary nature of the program, she said, enabled her to make connections between courses that might not have been possible had she pursued a strict disciplinary focus.

Learning across disciplines and borders

Reimer’s time at UCLA was marked by deep engagement in and beyond the classroom. One of her most rewarding experiences was working at the Undergraduate Writing Center, where she supported students one-on-one as a peer learning facilitator and later, supervisor. “It wasn’t at all just editing people’s papers… it was so collaborative… the best experience of my time here,” she said. In one particularly memorable case, a student she worked with on a personal statement wrote to thank her after getting into medical school.

“I didn’t realize how much you can learn by reading other people’s papers and being able to identify problems… [S]o I found myself applying that same mindset to my own writing and being my own coach in that way.”

An internship with Caitlin Carlos of the UCLA Alpert School of Music, involved contributing research and editing support for a book project on Carole King and Gerry Goffin. “It gave me an opportunity to practice those skills… and do it a bit more independently,” she noted. Together, these experiences sharpened her confidence in her writing and editing both of which she used extensively in writing her senior capstone paper in musicology.

Her research was inspired by a chance encounter on a flight to Germany, when a fellow passenger mentioned his involvement in a university choir that performed music of the Old Believers, a historically persecuted Russian Orthodox group. Intrigued, Sydney traveled to Freiburg to attend a concert and conduct interviews with choir members.

Reimer’s 30-page paper, presented at the department’s capstone conference, used a “music revival” framework to explore how diasporic music circulates internationally, which helps preserve cultural identity. Reimer worked closely on the paper with Joy Calico, professor and chair of the department of musicology, whose guidance she described as both “helpful” and “amazing.”

Another major highlight of her undergraduate education was her study abroad experience in Berlin, funded in full by the Arnold Heidsieck Scholarship — a little-known but generous award offered through UCLA’s German Studies program. “It covered my entire study abroad for eight months. Incredible,” she said. 

The scholarship supported both a ten-week intensive language program and a full academic semester, where she took two history courses taught entirely in German. “I recorded the lectures and would listen to them to try and understand what he was saying and process the really old-style German text,” she said, describing the academic experience as challenging but transformative.

“[I]n Berlin, it feels like history is very much alive. The way they teach it involves field trips and going into the city and seeing the places where [things] happened. It felt like it took something I’m used to learning in the classroom and showed me: Oh, this is real. We live this. We experience this,” she said.

Campus and community engagement

Back in Los Angeles, Reimer continued cultivating cross-cultural experiences through community involvement. As social media chair for the UCLA German Club, she helped organize events such as German Immersion Day and a Eurovision-themed session spotlighting Austria.

 She also volunteered at the German-American School Association in Santa Monica, working with children ages five to nine on German-language activities. And she served as a technical editor and graphic designer for UCLA’s undergraduate music journal.

 Reimer is now preparing to return to Berlin for graduate school. In October, she will begin a master’s program in music, sound and performance at Freie Universität, the same university where she did her study abroad program.

 “It’s located in the theater studies department and is very much about collaborating with artists and creative people in Berlin to put on exhibitions,” she said. The program is also research-focused and includes a thesis, making it a perfect continuation of her interdisciplinary education.

 “It feels like it’s going to draw on my background here and help me apply that a bit more to active practice and make tangible impacts on the community,” she said.

 Reflecting on her journey, Reimer encourages other students to embrace uncertainty and explore widely. “Be okay with being uncomfortable,” she said, “… because that’s where the most transformative growth is.”

Published: Friday, June 13, 2025