Studying at the Hochschule für Technik, Wirtschaft und Kultur Leipzig, also called HTWK

Source: https://www.studentenwerk-leipzig.de/mensen-cafeterien/einrichtungen/academica

 The exchange University is the HTWK, "University of Applied Sciences" in English. It is located in the south of Leipzig, between the Südvorstadt and Connewitz, on the Karl-Liebkencht-Strasse, a long avenue full of shops, restaurants and bars that crosses the south of Leipzig.

 It has different faculties such as Media, Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Computer Science, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Civil Engineering, Business Administration, Architecture and Social Sciences.

 The HTWK provides many services such as:
- a brand new library located on the campus of the HTWK with study rooms, sofas and computers. There are also multiple libraries spread in the whole city to vary studying environment during intensive exams study that I will take about later on. I personally enjoy working in this library as it is always very calm and luminous and the workspaces are quite spacious.
Source: http://www.fr.sbnl.be/projets/projets/allemagne/leipzig/htwk-leipzig
http://www.archdaily.com/271118/library-and-media-centre-leon-wohlhage-wernik-architekten

 - a fitness gym on the campus and a sports programme. It is possible to subscribe to the fitness for an amount of 19,99€ per month minimum (for a subscription of 9months minimum) or, for cheaper prices, there are plenty of sport courses from Kung Fu to Surfing listed here that come to a price between 15 to 25 euros per semester. 

- a langage center and career services that I am not very familiar with to be honest. 

- a cafeteria and a canteen, also called the "Mensa". Once again, it is possible to have access to all the Mensen in Leipzig as we are students of Leipzig. 

Source: https://www.studentenwerk-leipzig.de/mensen-cafeterien/einrichtungen/academica

Besides all these nice services, the main purpose of the HTWK is to deserve courses. Graduated from a DUT "Techniques de commercialisation" - "Marketing Techniques", the Bachelor prepared at the HTWK is International Management in the faculty of "Business Administration" - "Wirtschaftwissenschaft".
This bachelor is bilingual, which means there are courses in English and in German. 

The courses I chose for the first semester are:
- Introduction to international management (I2IM) - S1
- International marketing (IM) - S3
- International economics - S3
- Intercultural communication - S3
- Personamanagement (Human ressources) - S3
- Innovations und Technologie Management (master program) - S5
- German course (Erasmus students course)

As Erasmus students, it is possible for us to choose courses from different semester as you can see on my list (S1, S2, S3...). It is also possible (and I strongly recommend it) to attend all the courses at the beginning of the semester to see whether it corresponds to your expectations and to talk to the professors about the examination conditions (whether the grades are based on a paper, presentations and/or an exam). It might not be the funniest week of your Erasmus program but it is worth it. The flyer containing the courses of the Bachelor program is here!

I really enjoyed all the classes I chose and more than learning about the subjects, studying at the HTWK has made me realise multiple things. First thing, I understood that University calls for maturity.  Even though the professors notice whether you attend their class or not, they don't call people's name at the beginning of classes to make sure if you are there and punish you if you are not. Which means it is you and you only that decides whether to go to class or not and it is here that your maturity comes into play. We know how easy it is to skip class and how we can regret is later on so this is why I think that University teaches you to be more mature because you learn to force yourself to make painful decisions but for your own good. What I mean here is deciding to go to class even though you are tired because you know that you will learn and understand so much more in class than if you don't attend it. Also,  as there are fewer hours of class at the University than at the IUT, I have learned that you have to document yourself and study a lot besides class.

About what I have enjoyed in the courses themselves are the group-works. In each course, where we had to make a group presentation, we were encouraged to form mixed groups (Erasmus and German students). It was enriching as we got to observe how fast German students in our classes put themselves into work and how responsive they are. And one major noticeable difference I learned is the approach and the mentality they have towards studies. In France, most of us are thought that we have to study to succeed and once we get our High School degree Diploma - "Baccalauréat" our one and only solution is to continue studying without thinking of the possibility to take a break to travel the world or work, like our Germans fellows do. Maybe because we lack of maturity but also because I believe that our study system doesn't really allow it. But the result is that, once they took the break they needed to explore the world or get more work experience in the field they were interested, they realised that they want and need to study to get a good and interesting job. Of course, I am not talking about the general German students case but only the informations I have learned from the students in International Management at the HTWK.


Commentaires

Enregistrer un commentaire

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

A typical day in Leipzig

Image
 Well there is no such thing in Leipzig.  Footage of the morning sun from my room But I could tell you what I do on a regular basis. First thing I wake up of course and have breakfast. I go to class (most of the time around 9, or sometimes it starts at 7h30), have lunch at the Mensa with my friends (which are Erasmus students for most of them) and then I would have one or two more courses in the afternoon.  Picture of one building of the HTWK on a very cold but very nice day Depending on what time we finish, we either go to the city centre, or to a different district, to have a walk or shopping, or to a coffee place (close to the HTWK or in Plagwitz mostly) to study or simply to meet and talk with friends if we finish early . At the beginning of the semester I tried different sport courses (yoga, body workout, handball and rock and roll) that I didn't really enjoy so I didn't followed on. Instead, we sometimes go swimming or jogging. And if we finish la...
Lire la suite

The first weeks in Leipzig

Image
In Leipzig, the official classes start in October but, as Erasmus students, we have the chance to participate to 3 introduction/welcoming weeks. During these weeks we attended German classes in the morning and had our afternoon free to explore the city but also to do all the administrative tasks (as register to the city of Leipzig, open a bank account to pay the rent if you are living in a "Studentenwohnheime" - student residence). Some activities are also organised by our mentors. About the mentors, before arriving to Leipzig, we are assigned mentors that we can contact and that help us at our arrival to Leipzig. They are students at the HTWK.  One of the most important thing when moving somewhere far from your home is to find a new accommodation. And here again, being a student at the HTWK helps. There is a service provider, Studentenwerk Leipzig, that can take care of finding you a room in one of their students residences. I wasn't very enthusiastic about living i...
Lire la suite