BERLIN GRADUATION STORIES: Daniel

Arden University Berlin recently celebrated its first in person Graduation Ceremony in the German Capital. 

Bringing together learners from across the world for a day of celebration, we caught up with some of the proud graduates on the day to talk about their experience studying at Arden Berlin and how it felt to have completed their courses. 

One of the students we spoke to was Daniel, who was graduating with a MsC in Project Management. 

Daniel, like many of our learners, moved across the world to begin his course at Arden University Berlin.

Originally from Honduras, Daniel fell in love with Berlin as soon as he arrived.

Find out more below about Daniel, the connections he made with other Hondurans studying in the city, and how using an agent made his move easier. 

How does it feel to be graduating today?

It's a nice day. I’m relieved now and ready to go to the job market. I would love to stay here in Berlin. I’m looking for a job to get into project management. 

Studying here was really nice, so I enjoyed it. I studied here for one year and it has been really great. 

Where are you from and how have you found Berlin in comparison to where your home is? 

I’m from Honduras. Berlin is really nice. I like it, that's why I want to stay here. It’s a really lively city, and the nightclubs are really great.

Rather than adapting to Berlin, I think the challenging thing was more adjusting to a blended learning situation while also working. 

I was working student in talent acquisition for a company. And it was really nice and I loved the experience, but it was kind of hard to find the time for everything at times. But it's been great.

Did you find it hard to adjust to moving away from your home country?

Not really, falling in love with Berlin was an instant thing. It's funny though because we have a really big group or Hondurans here. We are always hanging out together. And meeting all the people from new cultures was really cool. There, I didn't find any difficulties. When I came first to Berlin it was more with the German bureaucracy than anything else. 

How did you come across Arden? 

Well, I was looking for scholarships and I found this agency called College Dream. I started having some interviews with them, talking to them about what I wanted to do, and they told me about this opportunity at Arden, so I applied. 

I decided to apply because German has always been a really attractive country to me. And I was accepted and decided to move forward with it.

For anyone that isn't familiar with your course. What kind of things did you learn about what kind of things should you study?

Project Management looks at, first of all, how to be a leader and how to take leadership of a company’s projects. I especially liked a lot the analytics and the technologies you learn about to drive on projects.

What was the assessment like? 

Well, it was new to me because there was only one project and the score was 100% of the class. So, it depended on that, but I felt it was great. 

The Arden team were always really nice, the support team. And the teachers were always trying to help you out, answering your questions. And I really liked working on my thesis – it was fun.

What was it about? 

It was about the implementation of a brand image on a family company Coffee Shop in Honduras. 

That coffee shop, was that your family’s? 

Yes. And doing what it said in my assessment is now in the planning phase, so that's just going to help them out. 

And how's it been, being so far away from your family?

Yeah, I guess the hardest part was missing our birthdays and Christmas, but like I said, I've been with my friends and we're all in the same situation, so, it's hasn't been so hard.

On Christmas we were all together and cooked Honduran meals and everything.

So, the process of using an agent to get here, what was that like? 

It's easier to get information which makes you feel more comfortable in the situation.

They help you out to get information, because actually getting information from Berlin to Honduras is hard. And it’s comfortable knowing there’s people in Berlin already who have gone through this experience. 

They also help you with networking and connecting with Hondurans already here in Berlin. I think that's the biggest and the most important thing, because the Hondurans who are already here have already experienced stuff and know what to do and how to help. 

What was it that kept you motivated to get to the end and get to graduate? 

Honestly, thinking about how my family sent me here, and how I’m away from them so I can move on with my life. Also, the work that I got as a student, that was really great and motivates me a lot. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to continuing on the same path. 

To find out more about Arden Berlin, click here