I am a 24-year-old master’s student, and my education journey has taken me through 5 countries and countless lessons, both in and outside the classroom. After finishing my bachelor’s degree in Azerbaijan, I took a leap of faith and applied for an international master’s program. To my excitement, I was selected as a scholar for an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree called MARIHE, which meant I would study in Austria, Finland, Germany, and China. It wasn’t just about going from one university to another. Jumping into new cultures, locally and academically, adapting to the lifestyle, food habits, weather extremes – each country added a unique layer to my growth, and looking back, I wouldn’t trade this rollercoaster of a journey for anything.
Sounds exciting, right? Totally! But it was also … kind of a bumpy road. As a person who had never left her home country before, I suddenly had to move to a new country every 6 months for the next 2 years. Mobility is just as important as the academic part of this degree. I wish I could say it meant only hopping on a plane and collecting passport stamps. But no, it meant constantly checking if your visa/permit was valid for the next country, re-registering in every city I was settling in, getting to know the new university system, being involved in new student unions, activities, looking for suitable accommodations, flights… it is a never-ending list for sure!
Doing all these activities that require extensive research on my own would have been an absolute burnout. Thankfully, my program offers a Buddy Program, where senior students guide the newcomers on how to navigate through the chaos. These student mentors’ advice was like a goldmine for me, their guidance shaped my decisions of which country to specialize in, where to look for internships, and ultimately where to apply for jobs. I truly appreciate their help in my journey. In the future, I would love to give back to this community by being a mentor myself.