Arden University Berlin recently celebrated its first 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 those in attendance on the day was Wahid, who studied MSc Project Management at Arden University Berlin.
What was your experience with Arden like?
Arden was amazing for me. The talented professionals and lecturers were great. It was a very friendly environment, and also a great place to build a network. I studied before – and got a Bachelors in Civil Engineering in Afghanistan for five years. It’s hard to compare that with this one year. It was totally different: new environment, new faces, and new challenges.
I really enjoyed the study method of Arden University. It was really professional. There’s not only a focus on theory – everything I learned I could implement in a practical way.
How does it feel to at graduation today?
Today is a big day for me – I've been waiting for this for a long time.
Unfortunately, my wife could not join me here because of visa issues, but I’ve tried to be happy without her being with me here.
How did you discover Arden?
To tell you the truth, Arden is a young university and I wasn’t expecting it to be the one for me. When I came here however, and I saw the lecturers, the students, the teachers, and the other administrative staff – I found the place very amazing.
So, now I say, “It doesn't matter whether it is a young university or older university, this place is full of people who make the place very professional.”
What is next for you?
I will be focusing on the next step of my career. Previously, I used to work with the United Nation office in Afghanistan for more than a decade as a civil engineer. So now in this chapter of my life, I will be focusing on working here in Germany, eventually as a Senior Project Manager.
What’s been some of the most interesting things you’ve learned about?
All the modules were interesting, especially the Agile methods, which was something new to me.
Nowadays, everybody is focusing on agile and replacing the traditional method.
Also, my own thesis which I completely did myself, that was very amazing for me, because everything was new, and I was trying to produce research about replacing the traditional method with agile methods to produce business transformation. Yeah, I really enjoyed them.
And how does studying here compared to studying in Afghanistan?
I cannot compare. In Afghanistan, there are many good universities and teachers that have their PhD, but there are also some lecturers that did not have their PhD, but they were teaching us.
I liked the way they were teaching, but the quality wasn’t as good to be honest. Here, it’s much better. In Afghanistan, we still need to improve.
How have you found the experience of living in Berlin? What do you like about the city?
The culture, the city, the people. It is a nice place, full of opportunity.
