Study Abroad Event, November 29th, 2021

On Monday, November 29th, 2021, it was time for a Study Abroad Event to take place for the first semester students of the social work bachelor’s programme. At the beginning of the event already more than 160 participants gathered in the virtual classroom, to get information about studying abroad. Everyone was looking forward to the upcoming one and a half hours, for which a diverse programme was announced. For all who could not attend or simply want to get a written rap-up of the most important information, you will find a summary below.

Who were the lecturers?

The dean of the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences (FAS), Dagmar Unz, welcomed all the participants. The faculty’s former international representative, Prof. Dr. Achim Förster and his successor, Prof. Dr. Christoph Bördlein, gave insights into the organisation of a semester abroad on the part of the FAS. The International Office (IO) was represented by Kathrin Sammetinger. Stefanie Witter was the host of the event.

What were the main contents?

The evening started with an interesting and interactive survey, where all participants were asked to mark on a map where they spent their last vacation. While most of the heart-shaped stamps were placed in Europe, there also were hearts all around the globe: Latin America, USA, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, … - all destinations summed up the first semester students of the FAS had already travelled the entire globe! As much as the last stays abroad were accumlutated in Europe (probably due to the Covid-19 pandemic), as diverse were the dream destinations for stays abroad. Accordingly, the digital stamps for a destination of a potential semester abroad were spread all around the globe. While Scandinavia, Great Britain, as well as France, Spain and Portugal seemed very popular within Europe, there was also a big interest for stays in the US and Canada, Latin America, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. But, also East and Southeast Asia, as well as countries in southern seemed to be quite popular among the students - very convenient, since the FHWS does not only have partner universities within Europe, but also all around the globe!

Semester abroad – does that even make sense?

This short icebreaker session was followed by a short input by Achim Förster stating the topic “Organising a semester abroad is no witchcraft”. During this speech Prof. Förster encouraged the participants to overcome their worries and fears concerning a semester abroad and to ask themselves the question “What is the worst that can happen?”. He himself spent some time in the USA during his studies and confirmed that the experiences he made are experiences he doesn’t want to miss. Of course, all worries are comprehensible, and everyone has to deal with them, but experiences gathered in a semester abroad are worth overcoming them.

In conclusion: The perfect time to go abroad is during ones studies! Students are not only old enough to make their own decisions, but also still young enough to experience the world freely and without too many worries. And the best thing: Barely anything can go wrong during planning, and just the planning also costs you nothing. So, what you have to lose? Okay, and now?

The deadline for applications for the winter semester 2022/2023 is March 10th, 2022. This means, until then students have to upload their documents in the e-learning course “Auslandsstudium” (semester abroad). Step-by-step instructions can be found here. Small hint: If the offered partner universities of FHWS do not suit your wishes, you can also go abroad as a so called FreeMover and organise your stay abroad yourself. Get in touch with your international representative and the International Office early on, to gather information, for example concerning funding and financing opportunities.

Then the event proceeded in panels …

Three different panels were offered after the very motivating input from Achim Förster. In the first panel, Stefanie Witter talked with students about their possible insecurities and worries concerning a semester abroad.

Achim Förster and Christoph Bördlein tried to completely answer the countless questions of the 90 participants in the second panel. As the panel was limited in time and could only offer room for a first Q&A session, it is recommended for everyone being interested in studying abroad to do some individual research on the websites of the FAS and the International Office. For more information also the international representative Christoph Bördlein can be consulted. Kathrin Sammetinger gave information concerning funding possibilities and the International Office of FHWS in the third panel. You can find her slides attached to this report.

And back in the course room …

Back in the main room, the respective organisers gave a short summary of their panel sessions and after that an employee of the FAS, Dr. Laura Blauth, joined the session with a short input on her experiences of staying abroad. Her diverse experiences left a lasting impression on her and her career path and are thus a good example for the positive impact of stays abroad : Three months in Canada, a year abroad in India, a practice project in Indonesia, Master studies in Cambridge and even doing a PhD in England – Laura Blauth had experienced a lot and her wealth of experiences illustrates why it is worthwhile to dare thinking outside the box.

At the end, there the Instagram-account of the FAS was presented to the audience, which, among other things, has the aim to keep students up-to-date about opportunities to go abroad. The podcast ‘terminal eINs’ was also introduced, in which employees of the FHWS talk about their stays abroad and what influence they had on them.

Useful links

You can find all summed-up information reagarding a semester abroad on the page “Study abroad” on the FAS-website. You can also contact the international representative, Prof. Dr. Christoph Bördlein, as well as the International Office with all your questions. Please note that you should do some own research on the websites before contacting them. On MoveON website you can check out all the partner universities of FHWS. There you will find links to all the respective partner university websites.

Additionally, there are more events planned for the upcoming time, such as peer to peer events where students who have been abroad talk about their experiences. If you do not want to miss information about events, follow the FAS on Instagram. Through the student network, you can also contact former students who studied abroad at your favorite university.

You can also have a look at the Europe Diaries to get some inspiration where you could spend some time abroad. If you are more a audio person, also feel free to check out the Podcast “terminal eINs”. You'll get a lot of first-hand information and experience reports there. And now: ready, set, plan!