ERASMUS EXCHANGE 2021
Hello, my name is Iulia and I am a second-year Marketing student within Bournemouth University Business School. From the beginning of January until the end of the first week of May, I have been an outgoing exchange student at EDHEC Business School in Lille, France, following a Pre-Master track. Why do I say Pre-Master? Well, the French educational system is very different from ours. In the first two weeks, because I did not know that much about the French educational system or about EDHEC, it was a shock for me to find myself in such a competitive environment! I could not understand why everyone cares so much about their grades or why they try to work as hard as possible. But, when I got close to four of my French classmates, who are now my good friends, everything got clear. As explained to me by them, after the French high school students take their Baccalaureate, they have two options: they can either directly enrol in a public university, or they can take “ classes préparatoires ” (Higher School Preparatory Classes), a two-year programme specially designated to train students for passing another set of national competitive exams, necessary for getting enrolled in a “grande école”. With that being said, EDHEC Business School is a grand école, being the second most-desired business school in France, with highly demanding admission requirements.
Learning all this information about EDHEC and how the educational system works in France, I got even happier about my choice and very proud to have chosen this university to do my exchange semester at. A French “grand école” is what every future and even current student dreams of getting into. Besides, following a business track at EDHEC, and not a marketing one as I do at BU, totally extended my knowledge in a lot of other areas. For example, I gained insights into Family Businesses, Social Entrepreneurship and Organisational Behaviour etc. Not to mention that every exchange student has to take the French unit, and you can choose the beginner, the intermediate or the advanced one, depending on your current level of French language. Now, do I still need to tell you that the semester at EDHEC Business School will have an impact on my employability? It is crystal clear that my professional opportunities have broadened, as well as my career expectations have increased.
Being away from home does not scary me in general, as I am an European studying abroad in England. However, the 4 months-semester in Lille was the longest period of time in which I did not see my family or friends. With every week that was passing, I could sense how my feelings of “homesick” got more and more acute. Yet, I knew that I made the right choice and I was glad that I took this opportunity, given the fact that if I had continued my studies at BU for the second semester, I would have had to stay inside my home in Romania for the online course and be bored every day, while in Lille, I totally lived my life ! Oh, did I forget to tell you that we had courses on campus during the whole semester? Yes, that’s true, EDHEC provided a Hybrid system of teaching of I would say, 80% of sessions physically on campus and 20% online.
Speaking of living my life, I think the most important thing to reflect upon after an Exchange experience is the friends you’ve made and, at the same time, the memories you are sharing with them. I was never lonely at all, I have now have friends from Germany, Russia, China, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Austria, Hungary and, of course, France. We explored the city of Lille together, we enjoyed our free time having lots and lots of picnics (as much as the weather permitted us) and we partied every weekend! Because the so-called “kot” I was living in and which I was sharing with 5 other people (everyone had their own room and bathroom) had a big kitchen, it became as a habit for me, Clara, Maria and Li to throw a party every Friday into our kot !!!
Unfortunately, the only thing I couldn’t enjoy as I wished due to the impact of the pandemic was a proper session of shopping at the mall ! I am crazy about shopping for me and for my family and friends, but in France, only the grocery stores were open during my mobility ☹. But I got used to all the covid-related restrictions and the curfew we had from 7pm to 6 am everyday and no one really was complaining. I even got to see Paris in a way in which will never be possible to be seen again : in his authenticity, with no tourists at all ! I visited Paris four times before, but never actually felt its veritableness and grandeur , because it was overfilled with tourists and agitation. Now I found a calm and quiet Paris, as true and “French” as never before.
If I had the chance to repeat this experience, I would do it again at the same place: EDHEC Business School, Lille Campus. If you like to travel, but your boring friends won’t join you because they are stuck in the same small hometown, doing the same things, but, at the same time, you’re afraid to do it alone, apply for an Erasmus Exchange! Wherever you decide to do it, you will be integrated very easily and you will make friends of different nationalities who have the same objective as you: to explore the world! I will myself look for a Master’s Programme which provides an Exchange academic semester/year, because I really enjoyed it and it’s shame to not take this opportunity again to see other beautiful places. ?
More Academic Matters related to my Exchange Semester
In France, the unit is considered “passed” if you gained over 10/20 points. In other words, to convert it to our system, you need over 50% to pass.
A list of my favourite units which I took at EDHEC (and my informal recommendations):
- Social Entrepreneurship – exceeded my expectations, number one on my top (perhaps because I had no entrepreneurship course/unit before?hmm), 10/10 recommend! I learnt so much about a particular type of organisation, which is the Social Enterprise. The enthusiastic teacher (she is from Columbia and has a PhD in Public Policy) whet our appetites into the world of entrepreneurship and into wanting to start our own company. There are two conditions for an enterprise to be social : it introduces a social invention and a social innovation to the world. I can talk about this unit for hours, but it’s better if you experience it on your own skin!
- Family Business – not my cup of tea, but managed to get a 15/20! Assessment consisted of an individual quiz and a 20-pages case study on a freely chosen Family Business, focusing on the business’s background, family, ownership and management, as well as the challenges faced by the company and our suggestions on how to solve the conflicts.
- Organisational Behaviour – nice atmosphere and vibe. It is not about learning frameworks and theories, but about analysing possible real-life case scenarios in workplaces and how to manage and overcome situations met in any business, performing any job and having any position. Assessment based on participation to the course and a final exam, but pretty easy.
- FRENCH – loved this course! (You are required to do it, but don’t worry, they assess your level during the first lecture to decide where you find yourself). I personally had a very nice teacher who knows the best way to make her students improve their French – by speaking ONLY in French! I didn’t mind at all and it really helped with my listening and speaking skills (I was B2 at the beginning)
- Understanding Consumers and Markets – a bit boring for me, considering the fact that I already had this unit in my first year at BU, but it’s always a good idea to recall notions you might have forgotten. I really liked the group assessment for this unit : a L’Oréal marketing campaign for the launch of a new cosmetic product in the Makeup for Men European Market.
All in all, EDHEC gives you the freedom to choose the units you want to take and their Incoming Erasmus Team is very kind and replies fast. They will give you details about everything, so don't worry, you have plenty of options to choose from, which will definitely suit you!
I am in a constant trying to fulfil Cleo Wade’s advice and I know there are days when I fail, but that`s OK. It’s normal not to be “the angel” all the time, as long as you regroup as soon as possible and remember why you want to be a good person.
Her speech does not only motivate me to be the best version of myself, but also to convince others that the change is in our hands, individually. However, through time I have founded people who only wanted to steal my sparkle, but when they did that, I just remembered that it is so beautiful to be good to as many people as possible. It makes you become a real ray of sunshine in their lives. You just have to start by loving yourself so much that you can love others without barriers.
This is the quote which best describes me, because I always try to become the best version of myself in terms of staying humane in the most critical situations. No matter who you are or where you find yourself throughout your life, being kind to someone might just open a door to a new friendship or develop a social connection with someone. The effect a kind act might have may change that person’s life for the better. So...keep that in mind and you will never be alone!
Explanation
I know I was not supposed to display my Individual Critical Review on my Profile Page, but because I was not sure whether I had correctly uploaded it to my Collection, I decided not to take the risk.