We present to you the experience of Aytaj Agayeva, a student of the Baku Engineering University, who also participated in an exchange at the University of Koblenz, Germany, with which BEU collaborates under the Erasmus + KA1 program:

Hallo, wie geht's?

My name is Aytaj and I want to tell you about the most incredible experience of my life at the age of 21. Like many, I wanted to study abroad for my personal and professional development, and I had the opportunity to participate in an one- year Erasmus + KA1 exchange program at Hochschule Koblenz University in Germany, 4,091.5 km far from my home, Baku. Due to the existing Covid-19, I had the opportunity to extend my education there for another semester.

I would like to note that I received information about the program from the Facebook page of International Relations and Project Management Department of BEU. As a result of the information and support of the head of the department Arif Najimov and the specialist of the department Narmin Alakbarova, I successfully passed the application stages. I still remember the first day I came to Germany, the night of September 14, 2019. It was dark and very cold, and I didn't have internet. That was the first lesson I learned that day - I had to be more organized for a better exchange experience, because I was far away from my family and friends. I thought it would be a bit difficult to get used to the new environment for the first few weeks. However, the Sprachen / Internationales team was very supportive. They provided all the necessary support in the pre- and post-arrival procedures.

The university is located in a very small and quiet city called Remagen. The city is very small, the Rhein River nearby and the nature really fascinated me. People are very sweet and kind. In addition, their active and healthy lifestyle has led me to change my daily routine and adapt to a more active and healthy lifestyle.

The university offers various classes in English. Also, some classes are taught by visiting professors from different universities. For example, a lesson called Leadership and History was given by Victor Thiessen, a visiting professor at Brock University in Canada, and was about the unforgettable leaders in history. During the transition to online education, other classes were interactive and intensive as well. In addition to classes, I had the opportunity to do an academic internship at Sprachen / Internationales department and got to know more about German work environment.

In addition to learning more about Germany's long, rich, and complex history, I became acquainted with cultural diversity in the true sense of the word as I spent time with other exchange participants from around the world. I also managed to travel to about 15 European countries by using the monthly stipend of 850 euros efficiently. We even rented a car with my friends and organized trips to Paris, Zurich and Milan, and it was a very fun experience!