MY STUDENT MOBILITY IN POTSDAM: Nela Šuica

Nela Šuica
University of Arts in Belgrade, Faculty of Applied Arts

Erasmus+ Mobility for Studies at:

University of Applied Sciences, Potsdam

I had the privilege of spending the first semester of my master studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, Germany as part of an Erasmus+ student exchange.

During my stay in Germany I lived in Berlin and commuted to Potsdam for my classes, as most other international students did too. The commute initially seemed like a lot, but in the end it was very manageable since the public transportation in Brandenburg is almost flawless.

This gave me the opportunity to explore both cities and gain the most out of my situation. Potsdam is very beautiful and has a lively student life, however I believe Berlin was more suited for me as a design student since it had a lot more to offer culturally.

I tried spending the 6 months in Potsdam and Berlin to its maximum: I regularly attended exhibitions, making sure to visit the most of the museums and I was rarely left disappointed. Berlin has a rich and always changing art scene, so there was always something new for me to see.

I had experience with these cities beforehand. Having visited it with friends and family a few times already, I had the general knowledge at the start that helped me better navigate my stay.

What also added to the experience is that Berlin has a very large international community, so meeting other foreigners was not an issue. I made friends and contacts with people from many different countries across the planet, some of which I am hoping to last for a lifetime.

Living with roommates from different countries also added to my experience and made me more of an open and curious person. The whole experience helped me socially and made me more confident.

The university itself was vastly different from my university in Belgrade in its approach and curriculum. They emphasize more on group work, and approach each project slowly and more in depth, prioritizing each student explaining their concept thoroughly and with regular presentations.

This greatly helped me develop my public speaking skills, since I was not confident in them when I left Belgrade, and had very poor experience with presenting in front of class.

My entire curriculum was in German, which initially did give me some challenges but I managed to overcome them in the end. I did have some german knowledge beforehand (B1) but it was not sufficient for following sometimes 4-hour long classes. Thankfully, all of the professors were very understanding and helped me in English if I had any questions. The other german students were also eager to help us international students.

The university is very well-equipped and I was so impressed with some of the technology they had at the campus. Everything functions digitally, through student ID-cards.

My favourite class I took was a workshop called ‘Grafiklabor’, where we experimented with riso printing and screenprinting, something I haven’t had the opportunity to do before. After completing the course I got the license to use the workshop whenever I want, for my own personal projects and I made sure to use this great opportunity.

I also attended some classes focusing on animation and interface design, since I didn’t get to approach it in Serbia, but was very interested to learn the basics.

I’ve had many amazing experiences that I’ll always remember. Living alone in a foreign city was a great way to build my independence and improve my social skills. It also allowed me to explore new cultures and connect with people from all kinds of backgrounds.