At home in Skt. Petersburg Alena studies journalism on the seventh semester. Here in Denmark she’s on the international new reporting semester.
For Alena travelling and doing exchange semesters plays a big part in breaking down the stereotypes.
”There is a very unique atmosphere when you are part of an exchange program. You meet a lot of people with different cultural backgrounds and you discover that you still have a lot of things in common. I’ve learned that I share both values, worries and hopes for the future with people from all over the world.”
Actually, it wasn’t always Alena’s plan to end up here on an exchange semester. When she first heard about the opportunity, she thought it sounded too expensive and she was worried that she wouldn’t get good grades when the courses were in English.
But a friend of hers convinced her to apply for a semester in Norway and to her own surprise, Alena was chosen and not only for the course. She was also granted an Erasmus stipendium which meant that her whole stay was financed.
“That is a period of my life that I will never forget,” Alena says.
After the stay in Norway, she returned to Russia, but the longing to travel soon returned.
“At home in Skt. Petersburg it was way too easy to not challenge myself,” she says, “so my next thought was ‘where do I go now?’”
And then she chose Denmark and DMJX.
“The exchange semesters have opened my eyes for the fact that I can build my life the way I wish, and that a lot of things are possible when you want it badly enough.”
To meet the actual persons
In the future, Alena hopes that she’ll be able to help other people get the same experiences. She dreams about being an international journalist either reporting back to Russia or another country.
“I think it’s really important, that we are well informed about the world around us.”
She’s also thinking about working with facilitating exchange semesters for future students.
“I hope more people get the opportunity to do exchange. It’s really important that we get to know each other beyond cultures and conflicts and get to meet the actual persons.”