Viktoriia Kovrova

 

Specialty: Engineering        

 

Term of stay: 02/09/2019 – 25/01/2020

Specialty in NTU DP, course: Building and civil engineering, 3rd study year

 

Last year, I had the great opportunity to go for semester study at the Spanish University of Jaén under the Erasmus + program. It was started from the announcement on our university website. After that I filled an online form, passed the interview and got fantastic news which made changes in my life.

I have spent 5 months in Spain. It was really unforgettable for me. There were some difficulties from the beginning. Of course, I didn't know Spanish, but started learning it a few months before leaving for Spain. Unfortunately, in Jaén, it is very difficult to find a person who speaks English. So, the moments, which were connected with the searching for an apartment, the timetable of buses, and especially the registration of a bank account and card were quite difficult. Students of UJA should help me in these problems (Buddy Program), but it started working later, so Internet, including Google Translator, Google Maps and city information sites helped me with these situations.

There were also problems with the timetable and necessary disciplines. It was difficult to choose because many subjects were taught in Spanish, and some of the disciplines were simply removed from the list when we came to Jaen. In my opinion, it would be better for the host university to add more courses in English, because many students had the same problem.

All these issues were at the beginning, life was easier after some weeks. The university provided the opportunity to learn Spanish, so over time, it was easier to solve everyday questions and study issues, because the level of Spanish has increased significantly.

The university UJA is very modern. There are many buildings which are equipped with everything for comfortable learning (from multimedia learning opportunities to air conditioning). The university's equipment for people with disabilities was very impressed, everything was thought through to the smallest detail.

Actually, our student life was very bright. The studying was interesting and accessible; the professors explained all material very clear. I really liked the format - Field trip - field practice. These trips fully explained certain aspects of the theoretical part in practice. All trips were at the expense of the university and we were taken by bus to certain locations (from 4 to 8 locations per day). And the trip could sometimes take almost all day. It was very interesting and I would like this format to be introduced at our university.

Leisure was equally interesting. First of all, I would like to highlight the leisure that the university has arranged. All these activities brought people together from different parts of the world and brought us closer. I found many friends from different countries and it was really interesting to know something new about their culture and traditions.

I am very grateful to our university for being able to participate in academic mobility programs, because it is important experience for improving knowledge at foreign universities and improving professional skills.