8/8/2019 Wednesday meeting-University exchange experience

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Wednesday meeting: The university exchange experience

All types of students take advantage of university exchange programmes to enrich themselves by learningabout other cultures while continuing their studies.

On 29 October, we were pleased to have six students who shared their experiences with us. Sarah, fromAfghanistan, Amriptal from the UK, Erika from Mexico, Rebean from Iraq, Gemma who was an Erasmusstudent in London, and Laura, who studied in Paris, attended our meeting. They talked to us about theirinitial doubts, the difficulties of the process, the challenges overcome and what was or is the best part of theirexchange experience.

The first talk was by Sarah fromAfghanistan, who showed us thebravery of deciding to take part insuch an experience. In Westernsociety, what we understand as apositive addition to our curriculumis not an honour or value addedfor women in Afghanistan whodecide to take the challenge. Onthe contrary, it means that theymay be rejected by their familiesand work colleagues.

We were all deeply affected whenSara explained the atmosphere inwhich she decided to do auniversity exchange and thesituation she will face when she returns to her country. Sometimes we don´t realize or appreciate the effortthat an international visitor must make to fit into our cultures. “ I studied in buildings that had been bombed out, while the bombs were still falling , “ she explained, showing her determination to continue her studies.Only 5% of the female population of the country studies. However, here she finds that understanding somedifficult technical texts is a hard task alone. She called for greater support to fulfil her expectations about thisuniversity exchange experience as she stated: “I would like to be just another student here at the University of Deusto and learn so that I can teach my pupils back home .” ….

Besides this brave student’s personal circumstances, several common factors were pointed out: the need toknow something about the destination beforehand, the interest in having contacts before you arrive, theproblems involved in keeping up with classes in another language even if you already know it, theimportance of making good friends and how taking part in university activities helps you to integrate.

The four international students pointed out that the support they received in their home countries from family

and classmates has been essential to setting out on this adventure. Sarah has the unwavering support ofher mother and was personally registered by the rector of her university. Erika receives a great deal ofsupport from her family and the International Relations Department in her country.

Amriptal had to “google” Bilbao to know where she was coming and found adapting difficult. “I was totally scared ”, she said. However, his parents encouraged her to try and when she met some American friends,everything became much easier.

The Master’s programme that Rebean wanted to study here at Deusto underwent changes. It was to betaught completely in English but the decision was finally made to offer part of the programme in English andpart in Spanish. This was a hitch for him, but he carried on and, as he said, “when I started my Spanish classes later, I liked the group” and he felt really comfortable studying in our language. In fact, he felt so athome that he commented “ I believe I can help people in my country come to Spain since they usually tend 

to go to other countries .”

8/8/2019 Wednesday meeting-University exchange experience

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Erika talked about her experience in the following terms: “ I did not have time to adapt to the change” . Shearrived the day before classes started and now takes an active part in university life through the mountainwalking group and the University Magazine… “ I have been active the entire time and that helps you to forget that you are away from home ”. She feels that this is important to having a more satisfying experience.

We also talked about one of the most common difficulties: the language. Laura, who did an exchange inParis and who had studied at the French School, commented, “ at first, it was hard to take notes and pay 

attention at the same time .” It was also a big change for Laura to adapt to the host university since she had

to go from one window to another to process her papers and enrolment and had not received anyinformation about how to complete the procedure.

Gemma, a former Deusto student, said the same thing. She went to London on the Erasmus programme afew years ago and was kind enough to come and share her experience with our international students. Shehad met quite a few international students here at Deusto during her studies and those contacts proved to bea source of important support for her when she went to London. However, what was initially a help mayhave limited her chances to know other people. She said that the worst part of the experience was““depending on people you had already met.”  

In spite of the obstacles they had to overcome, both of them smile when they talk about their universityexchange experiences and they firmly state that they have fond memories and have been enriched as

people by the experience, which has made them more open-minded.

In fact, both of them say they are now more aware of the situation of international students. A smile or ahandshake makes the university exchange much simpler and more pleasant, even if it’s just to share doubtsor talk. At the last Wednesday meeting, all the students decided to exchange e-mail addresses and keep incontact.

Programmes such as Deustokide(accompanying international students) orTandem (to practise another language)foster contacts and support with localstudents.

Lastly, when we asked Gemma abouthow her exchange experience hasaffected her possibilities on the jobmarket, she remarked that she could nsay if that particular aspect of her traininghad been helpful and stated, “ it’s on CV, I imagine it is taken into acco 

ot

my unt ”

Laura Calahorra, coordinator in DeustuLan (University career services) stated that university exchanges arevalued in job selection, not only because of the academic knowledge but also for what they show aboutdevelopment of social and personal skills and capacity.

In fact, it’s never too late to think about trying a university exchange abroad. There are grants such as

Erasmus, Erasmus Mundus for students who want to go abroad during their postgraduate studies likeGemma or internships (handled by DeustuLan) through the Leonardo Da Vinci Programme.

Thank you again for coming and for sharing this part of your lives with us. We trust that your experience willbe helpful for other students who want to take part in university exchange programmes.

---Students services:ikaslebulegoa@deusto.es