How will studying abroad live up to the cliché and change your life forever?

Hi, I’m Eszter, your host for The Study Abroad Show coming
to you through the HSLU blog for the next couple of weeks.

During these few weeks, I will introduce you to some incredible people that have some sort of connection to the topic of studying abroad. I will try to show you all sides of the story, talking to international students, school representatives, parents, employees everything you can think of. I will sit down with people from all over the world and talk to them about their role in studying abroad, their experiences and ask for advice. My aim is to give you an idea of what it’s like to be part of this amazing opportunity and what it could offer for your future, and most importantly how it could change your life forever.
If you are thinking about taking this step, know someone that would, or you are an employer thinking about hiring international people and have questions that you would like to get answers to, don’t hesitate to write them down in the comment section below, I will make sure to cover all your interests.

Now that you have an idea of what to expect from my posts, let me tell you a bit about myself as an introduction to this topic.
As expected from the host of such a prestigious show, The Study Abroad Show, studying abroad has been a huge part of my life in the past 5-10 years. First, it started with my sister moving to Switzerland for university from Hungary, where we grew up. Then couple close friends going on a half-year or yearlong high school study abroad programs. My first personal experience was a one-month long language course in Pisa, Italy during summer when I was 17.

The first taste of living on my own and in a foreign country. I was thrilled, it was the best summer I ever had. Few years later when it was time to choose a university after high school I didn’t feel a connection to any of the courses Hungarian universities had to offer, so I was open for anything that came my way. When a friend asked me on the metro if I would be interested in moving to Denmark for uni, I got excited right away. We went down the dreadful process of applying to an international college together, with very low confidence in my English skills but full of enthusiasm and curiousity.
I still remember when I got the phone call about my acceptance; it was like in the movies, I was in the middle of a vineyard with my dear friend from primary school and a Danish phone number was calling. From there I had maybe a month to prepare for the 1600 km move.
Finally, I have started my 2+1,5 year (Denmark, strange schooling system don’t question it) journey in Branding and Marketing Management at VIA University in September of 2015 and it has been a wild ride since. In 2017 I decided to use the opportunity to go on an exchange semester in the following semester and thanks to my institution’s partnerships I was able to attend the 2018 Spring Quarter of FIDM University at their Los Angeles campus. After my return, I wrote my thesis in the last, 7^th semester of my BA and started thinking about where to go next.

As my degree is a Bachelor in Arts, I would not have been able to transfer my points as needed to apply for a master’s degree in Copenhagen, so I started looking elsewhere, somewhere not that rainy and maybe not that far from my family. That is how I found Hochschule Luzern in the heart of Switzerland and now I am here on my second semester working on my Online Business and Marketing degree.

Don’t forget to leave your questions below for the upcoming interviews or if you have any questions about my journey.

See you on the next one,

Eszter