A Semester Abroad in Flensburg

Flensburg, 15/ 03/ 2017: Maria Amupolo, exchange student from Namibia, talks about her experience spending one semester in Flensburg with a DAAD scholarship.

Maria Amupolo, Jesaya Mwandingi, Pombili Nghihalwa and Paavo Uutako are 4 exchange students from the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) who got the chance to spend one semester in Flensburg studying logistics with the support of a scholarship from the DAAD and the Namibian German Centre for Logistics (NGCL). Here Maria tells us about her experience in Germany.

The picture shows the 4 students from Namibia together with Ronakeh Warasthe (project coordinator of the NGCL) in Flensburg. Every year, students studying transport and logistics at the NUST University in Namibia, get the opportunity to spend one semester at the University of Applied Science in Flensburg. The partnership between both universities and a scholarship from the DAAD make it possible and affordable for them to gain insights of the German culture and way of life. Maria says her stay in Flensburg was a unique experience and that Germany is one of the best countries for studying logistics. The cooperation also allows the students to do an internship at a German logistics company and thus they are able to gain professional experience as well.

During the semester in Flensburg Maria also worked on several research projects with German and international students, giving her the opportunity to explore the German language and to familiarize herself with cultural diversity. The University of Applied Science of Flensburg, she says, is very well-equipped making it easier to study. She also praises the library on campus as she found a lot of helpful resources for her academic work there. She says people were always willing to assist her in every issue and also the professors were kindly supporting her with her research work. Living in Flensburg has not been a big challenge for Maria, as she says that the public transportation system is reliable and takes you everywhere within the city. Furthermore accomodation is well-equipped and affordable for students. With the help and support of the DAAD scholarship she could fulfill her dream of coming to Europe and even had the chance to visit other countries like the Netherlands or Austria. Overall she is very grateful that she got the chance to spend the semester abroad and it also broadened her perception of how things are working in other countries and how important it is to know about cultural diversity.