Impressions of studying in Bratislava by student Julia Kibzii
I am a second year student majoring in Accounting and Taxation. This semester I was lucky enough to participate in the Erasmus + student mobility. For 3 months, I became a student of the Higher School of Economics and Management in Public Administration in Bratislava (Slovakia), which gave me the opportunity to study and live in a European country, develop, travel, meet interesting people, learn foreign languages, learn and try something new. I admit that participating in the program is the best thing that happened to me during my student years. During these three months I received many new impressions, unforgettable emotions and memories, I gained a lot of experience.
My curriculum consisted of four subjects: business finance, business economics, management and accounting. Since the subject "Business Economics" was not in the spring semester, I decided to study English and Slovak. I studied the subject "Accounting" remotely.
I had three working days with classes. They were interesting, unusual, because, at some point, their teaching was different from the method of teaching at my home institute. A more informal setting was noticeable. Especially for management teachers who conducted classes in the form of a dialogue. There was a feeling that they were also students and just discussing a topic. Also in class, presentations were often broadcast on a projector, video and in the form of films. More attention was paid to practical work than theory.
Cultural acquaintance with Slovakia was also interesting. We have an amazing program full of fun and new experiences. The first was a retro tour of Bratislava and a tour of the Old Town. The next was dinner, where we were acquainted not only with the national cuisine, but also with each other. We also visited the basketball game "National team of Slovakia against the national team of Luxembourg". In addition, at the end there was a quest in Bratislava, where we met students from other universities who also studied under the Erasmus + program. Each event was interesting and impressive in its own way.
Unfortunately, due to the situation in the world, a month later we switched to distance learning. Most of the subjects I worked on my own from the notes that teachers threw in my e-office on the distance learning server, and performed practical tasks. In addition, there were classes who held in Webex, Zoom, Skype. We also took the exams remotely. I had two oral, two written and one in the form of a seminar paper. I passed all the exams with a good result.
I lived in a dormitory all this time. It is a special place which became become my second home. There I met other students of the program and master students. They are all interesting, unique, each unusual in its own way. Some became good friends for me.
I am very grateful to Erasmus + for all the emotions, for the unforgettable moments, for the experience, friends, and skills. I also grateful to people who gave me the opportunity to experience, feel and see this all. Without their help and support, this special period would not have been in my life.
