BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG-STIPENDIUM FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Transcription

1 BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG-STIPENDIUM FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS PERSONAL REPORT Please upload your personal report as a PDF-file to your profile at the web portal of the Baden-Württemberg- STIPENDIUM BWS-World. Note that the file size should not exceed 4 MB and must be uploaded four weeks from the end of your scholarship stay at the latest. If you have any questions, please contact the International Relations Office of your host institution or send them to studierende@bw-stipendium.de. Name: -Address: Home University: Host University: Duration of Stay from - to: Mitesh Mistry mistry21@my.yorku.ca York University Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg Submission date: I agree to the publication of my personal report on the websites of the Baden-Württemberg- STIPENDIUM and the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung

2 Please note: You may adjust the given space for the bullet points 1 7. But note that the length of your personal report should not exceed 5 pages including the cover sheet. 1) SYNOPSIS Write a short synopsis of your stay abroad. Were your expectations on a study abroad satisfied? How would you evaluate your study abroad? What were your experiences concerning the cooperation with the Baden-Württemberg-STIPENDIUM? One word enlightening. Never have I imagined that an experience such as this would make an immense impact on my life. The entire stay abroad program is an eye-opener to a world beyond what I am used to living in at home. You grow so accustomed to your routine at home where living in another city seems impossible, only to ultimately call it a home away from home. All my expectations were fulfilled by the time I left Germany, however it was a long journey before complete satisfaction was met, since there were many ups and downs that were faced while there. This can go for everyone else, since all you are focused on at the beginning is surviving in a new environment before any other personal/external factors can be dealt with. Although, that is where the experiences and memorable times come out of the journey rather than the destination. With that being said, a scale of evaluation would be pointless in this case, because I found it worthwhile to take on this adventure and discover more of the world, but more importantly, about myself. Mission accomplished, with an unresolved ending so to speak. By doing this study abroad, it has motivated me to travel even more and expand my horizons to one day teach internationally, diverse with more cultures, and one day be known as a well-travelled individual. My experience with the Baden-Württemberg-STIPENDIUM was seamless. If I had any questions, I could easily contact Angelika Vogelmann, and she would be more than willing and helpful to address our concerns. Furthermore, my accompanying Canadians and myself had an amazing time at the Sommerfest Event in Reutlingen. It was nice to see the many scholarship holders and the variety of International students who were also curious enough to tackle an abroad program. All in all, I cannot complain because the Baden- Württemberg-STIPENDIUM supplied great hospitality. 2) PREPARATIONS PRIOR TO THE STAY ABROAD Please include the following topics: application process at the host institution and via BWS-World, personal preparations, help during the preparation given by your home and your host institution. Applying for this abroad trip was rather simple. There was an information session that gave interested applicants an overall idea of how the Stay Abroad works and integrating PH Freiburg courses into our YorkU degrees. Also gave us insight into the city the successful candidates will be living in and how to assimilate one s life with the culture around. Completing the online application was also discussed, which included a Personal Statement, References, Transcript, Estimate of Budget, etc. Once filled out, chosen applicants had to go through interviews where the main focus was how our trip abroad will benefit YorkU and ourselves. After acceptance, you celebrate of course, but now is when all the serious preparation occurs. Applying to PH Freiburg was simple since our International Office handled that process, and most of the Baden-Württemberg-STIPENDIUM application as well. The most we had to do was simple personal information, or upload any documents we had for our initial application through YorkU

3 We received a lot of help from both sides of the ocean when it came to the application process for PH Freiburg and the scholarship. However, for most other things such as visas and flights it was left to us, and rightly so. It made us fend for ourselves which only has positive outcomes in the sense of independence and maturity. Notifying bosses at work and professors of your classes was at most importance in preparation before going, since I wanted to return to a job and I had to organize exams to be written, respectively. Still need money and pass university at the end of this dream trip. 3) STUDYING IN THE HOST COUNTRY Please include the following topics: enrolment and choosing courses, description and assessment of the study system and the courses, organised leisure activities, other events organised by the host institution, support by the host institution in general. Much different than I am used to at YorkU. In a good way as well. Biggest change was ing each professor individually in order to enroll into their class. However, I think this made each class a little more personal and enabling us to interact with the professor more. Especially since all of our classes were about teaching English as a foreign language, we Canadians made a major impact to other students because having native speakers around benefited them in the long run. Most of the work that was assigned to us was straight forward, where at YorkU you would have major assignments due every so often. On the other hand at the PH, it was more readings and coming up with tasks based work that can be used in an English classroom. This is something I found useful because it allows the teaching of English to be fun, motivating, and meaningful. There were many events planned out by PH Freiburg s International Office in order for us to be more comfortable in a new environment. It mainly consisted of going out and exploring new places around Freiburg, such as hiking the nearby hills/mountains or meeting up for dinner/night out. This was great because it allowed us to meet a lot of new people who eventually became great friends. PH also had a Sommerfest event that was amazing, because all the different departments of the school came out and promoted themselves. It was full of games, food, drinks, music all in all a good vibe. 4) STAY IN THE HOST COUNTRY Please include the following topics: personal experiences and impressions, life outside the institution. I had to cook for myself, clean for myself, do laundry for myself, motivate myself I had to fend for myself. Survival instincts on point. Only playing around but to be honest, it was tough at first. I have lived away from home before when in Canada, but I was close enough to go back whenever. When in Freiburg, I couldn t afford $1000 every week to go back, let alone a month, so you are truly on your own. At first, you try to organize things the way you have it home, try to make a routine similar to what you had but ultimately, you can try as much as you want but you will never get there. Different country, different you. I had to adapt to a new norm, and in the end, I loved it. It was a slow change, but over time (about a month and a half in) I felt part of the city. As if, I can be a tour guide of it. Okay, not that far, but I felt comfortable in the city by then, since I set up a new routine for me

4 Life outside school is much better than how it is at my home institution. Usually, everyone goes straight home after classes, but at PH, we would all be making plans to do this or that. It could be that we are on exchange and want to keep busy, but I noticed that even the Germans would be doing the same. Although, when it came time for exams, they became hermits to studying. Just joking but what I am trying to say is that it is easy to plan things there. Attend festivals, plan hikes, visit a nearby city or lake, travel to different countries, meet up with friends, throw a party, get to know new people, and even go on dates. Germany has things that Canada doesn t have, and vice versa, and maybe that is why I maybe hyping this whole trip up. However, all in all, it was a life changing experience, and to be frank it s not the school that will change you because school is school in the end what will make the greatest impact, is everything outside of school. Here is where you actually choose how you want to be represented in a new environment where no one knows you and in that, is where the stories will come out of. 5) NETWORK OF THE BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG-STIPENDIUM Please include the following topics: contact with other scholarship holders and Regional Chapters, your own contribution to setting up the network of the Baden-Württemberg-STIPENDIUM Sommerfest Event held by Baden-Württemberg-STIPENDIUM in Reutlingen was the main point in our trip where we met all the scholarship holders in the state. There, we networked with others from all over the world. We noticed that there were many from United States and the Asian continent. We also met the foundation members who organize the scholarship program, which was nice because it shows that they are dedicated to creating a diversified world by connecting individuals far and wide. Our Intercultural Training, led by Angelika Vogelmann was greatly influential to us because it was an eyeopener to all of us Canadians. It allowed us time to actually sit down and discuss different cultures at play while being in Germany, and how somethings we do in Canada would be accepted or not. This was very affective because as time went on, we all noticed changes within ourselves that were very different from when we first arrived to our last training with Angelika, and in this class we were allowed to highlight them and expand on it. If not for this, it would feel as if there was no purpose in even trying to involve oneself into a new culture. 6) HANDY TIPS FOR FUTURE SCHOLARSHIP HOLDERS - DO NOT pack your whole closest. Trust me, you will not need all the clothes and things you bring over. If you do need anything, most things there you can find for a rather decent price. - Although the weather at first will be horrible and dull, it s just a fake. Once June-July come around, be warned for 30+ degree weather all the time. Bring a lot of summer clothes. - Every part of the City is worth exploring. No matter how many times you go there, you will never get bored, even if you go to the same spot daily. Keep exploring, and you ll be ever ending happy. - Keep fit. This is a perfect chance to pick up a work-out routine or keep healthy in any way, especially 0 0 4

5 eating right. I had to adjust my eating habits because I do not know how to cook, so grocery shopping contained a lot of simple but healthy options. Well, mainly apples and bananas, but that s all I like. - You will never walk nearly as much in your life, than the amount you do there. If you like that, good, if not, get a bike. - Get your Student Semester Ticket as fast as possible. It will allow you to use the trams, buses, and certain trains for one payment, for 6 months.way better than Canada s system - LEARN GERMAN! Although you may be told you do not need it once there, start learning it before you go. It will make a world of a difference if you know a little bit before you take their German Beginner course. - DO NOT stay in your room and hibernate! Although there will be some days when all you want to do is chill out, but for the most part GET OUT! Explore, Greet, Meet, Eat, Play There are so many things to do in Freiburg and the surrounding areas, it s hard to get bored. Get out of your comfort zone, and that is when the memories and stories will come out. Take a chance! 7) OTHER Have a little Relax...Have a little Chill Have a little Coffee Mitesh Mistry 0 0 5