My full names are Chimeremeze Barth-Obi, Citizen of Nigeria and a business management student at the renowned Ukrainian American Concordia University (ConcordiaUA) in the heart of Kyiv, Ukraine. My first step towards this amazing opportunity was an email I wrote to Ms. Maryna Mostova (Personnel in charge of international students at the university) on the 27th of September 2019, regarding a Facebook ad I came across and everything else kind of just happened from there.
I received an email from Ms. Mostova on a nomination form to fill and basic facts about the university I signified interest in. After filling the form, I had to keep in constant communication with the department of international students at Hochschule Worms (The University of Applied Sciences Worms, Germany) because I also had questions I needed answers to about the forms I was filling. It’s very important to me that I mention Ms. Martina Brodhacker, she is in charge of the international students at Hochshule Worms and to be very honest she made it easy for me to adjust to the country and Uni because she was always just an email away.
The application process for the exchange program wasn’t tedious, there were steps to follow, which were simple, steps like creating an account on Hochshule website, all forms were filled and submitted through my personal portal on the website, I later learned during my stay in Germany that this was how it’s done in most universities there. After submitting the applications through the portal, I also had to hand in another application by mail through the university. The application included basic information about myself, CV, cover letter, passport copy, passport picture. the next big thing was waiting to get the admission letter. Everything turned out okay with my application and Hochshule Worms sent an admission letter and supporting document for visa by mail to me and by post to the university (ConcordiaUA). Next up was gathering all necessary documents and setting an appointment to turn in my documents to the embassy for visa. Finding out what documents that are needed, reviewing your documents, setting a date to turn in the documents ( because there is no interview required at the embassy for this visa type) isn’t difficult, it was all handled by kiew.diplo.de but it’s all very time sensitive as the visa type needs at least ten weeks for processing. It’s also very important to note that the German embassy doesn’t require bank statement to show you can finance this journey but rather a blocked account with a specific sum. Just as the name suggest the account will be blocked till your arrival in Germany and you will only receive a certain sum from this monthly, this helps ensure you can pay your rent and take care of yourself while in Germany. Together with my application I had to submit proof of a blocked account in my name containing the sum of Five thousand Seven hundred and Ninety Six Euro (5 796), amount suitable for a period of Six months and two weeks. After weeks of waiting on the visa, I finally got my passport and was more than excited to see Deutchland for the very first time. From the airport at Frankfurt to the train station at Worms, I couldn’t stop staring, everything looked so impressive. Everyone was polite, a large number of people spoke English, and everyone was orderly. I was so psyched, going from the airport to my final destination was really easy as the university provided me with a map and a guide to pick me up at the train station and take me to my accommodation. It’s also worth noting that the accommodations are pre-booked and chosen before leaving your home country, it’s all part of the things organized by the university (Hochschule Worms to make life easier for the foreigners coming in).
I lived in a three bedroom apartment with two amazing girls from Mexico who were also there for the program. Life in Germany was one I could really get used to, the roads are so clean, they are literally washed every morning. Everybody had to recycle, it was a bit unusual for me at first but I got with the program soon enough, we had four to five different trash bags at all times because everything had a place. They accommodation in Germany cost more than in Ukraine, starting from 250 Euro upwards for a room.
My first impression of the university was a really good one. The building was very modern and beautiful, their arena was very serene , they had maps in the building and around to get you from one point to another should you need help locating a building, an office or a classroom. Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more excited to be there, during the orientation, we were given all types of pamphlets, ones to show us how to recycle our dirt’s, ones to show tell us about events and celebration, ones telling us about monumental places to visit, etc. They were a lot and they were all helpful. We were also given a backpack that had a brooch with the university name on it, the backpack contained a case with a few basics we might need like adapters for our gadgets and phones, since we were coming from different countries and the plugs of our gadgets might be different from the sockets. Note pads and pens etc. We got a tour of the university and all in all we were welcomed to the university.
My experience attending lectures and taking classes at the university wasn’t a long one but it was a good one. Due to the pandemic, everyone had to stay locked up at home to help flatten the curve of the spiking corona virus, so classes were moved online, events were cancelled and life became somewhat restricted. We continued classes via zoom, lessons were still delivered in full, assignments and home works were turned in via moodle per usual.
The little time I spent going out freely was very awesome and I made a lot of memories I will cherish forever and made friends I won’t be forgetting soon but I’d say I didn’t really get the full experience due to the pandemic and I hope I get a chance for a redo someday.
One of the things I feared while leaving for Germany was that I might be completely on my own but that wasn’t the case I still had my lecturers / teachers from ConcordiaUA. They answered my questions when I didn’t understand something about a certain issue, came to my rescue whenever I had an issue with my moodle. The best part of all was Ms. Halyna Bevzo my Ukrainian teacher, she checked to make sure I was doing okay during the pandemic and attending my classes, Ms. Maryna Mostova, who helped from start to finish of this entire experience, Ms. Olga Glazova who helped me with matters I couldn’t handles myself and the entire Deans office. I felt so safe. It was a huge privilege getting this opportunity and treatment from Ukrainian American Concordia University, would definitely advise any students that might want to take up an exchange program to go for it, it’s all worth it.
