Auslandsstudium am renommierten International College of Management Sydney ICMS

When I’m honest I’ve always wanted to take part in a Study Abroad Program. Not only to improve my English skills, but also to gain new experiences regarding people, cultures & places. In this regard, Australia has been appealing to me for ages. Having the imagination of studying and going to the beach straight after your classes while the sun shines brightly most of the time is truly so beautiful. But as we all know, this year turned out to be different.

Currently I am in the 5th semester, majoring in IB as part of my Business Administration studies. Since the beginning of the COVID-pandemic we all have attended digital lectures. Personally, these changes have been more time-consuming for me, requiring more research, than attending face-to-face classes. That is one of the main reasons why I’d actually cancelled my plans going abroad at all.

Nevertheless, when I heard that the International College of Management in Sydney is offering online studies, I was totally delighted. I did not have to cancel my plans wholly. Even though I could not travel to Australia I was able to attend digitally.

Actually, I only chose one subject (Principles of Marketing) because I didn’t reckon with this opportunity at all and had been quite busy with several other subjects at our university.

Owing to the PROMOS scholarship I do not have to pay any tuition fees, so that the studies are completely free. In addition, I had an online meeting with the International Student Office before the course started. Their office is located in Germany, being our counterpart in case certain problems occur. They gave us more information about the course and the login data for moodle. Just a few days later, the class started.

Despite being terribly tired due to the time difference (my class starts at 5 AM in the morning here in Germany (once a week)), it is fun. My lecturer is super kind and always makes sure we understand everything correctly. As we are just a small group of students, it is a very enjoyable atmosphere. Often, we take one hour for the theoretical content, have a break in between, and continue for another hour practicing and revising the learning material by playing Kahoot or doing group activities. Furthermore, we have to do off- class activities as well, linking to the learned topics, such as writing journal entries, doing group presentations or design projects.

Making a long story short, I can definitely recommend online lectures abroad. Even though you are not on site, it’s a good alternative where you still feel welcome and well looked after. Also, it is a good opportunity for students to gain an insight that may help you to determine your decision for going abroad once the pandemic is over.

My name is Jessica and since the beginning of November 2020 I have been part of the online semester abroad at the International College of Management, Sydney.

For three months I am taking part in their Marketing course, which takes place every Thursday. Due to a time difference of 10 hours, the lecture starts at 5 am and ends at 8 am. In the beginning, I was a little worried about the early start of the lecture, but that turned out to be no real problem. This trimester, we are a small group of students from different countries. Because we are such a small group, it is possible for everyone to work with everyone in the course at least once. The lecturer of this course is Vicki Hetherington; she manages to successfully convey the subject matter of the lecture in an easily understandable and interesting way and manages to involve the participants in the lecture. She divides the lecture into two parts. In the first 1 ½ hours we go through the theory of the topic discussed on that day. In the last 1 ½ hours we work on different exercises in which we apply the knowledge we have acquired in the last 1 ½ hours. The lectures revolve around traditional and contemporary marketing, with a focus on contemporary marketing.

The grading consists of three parts. The first part is to write journal entries, which makes up 25% of the grade, the second part is a group project in which we have to present a poster. This makes up 35% of the grade. The last 40 % of the grade is made up by the third assessment. It’s a design project where we have to design a marketing project for a company.

Even though this semester abroad is an online semester, you still get some insights into what it is like to study in another country. For me, the online semester is a lot of fun and really interesting. I would recommend everyone to try it.

I am Ariane Watat, a Cameroonian and full-time student at the OTH Amberg Weiden. I study International Business. In addition, I am a part-time student at the International College of Management Sydney, I study Managing People and Organisations. Before coming to Germany, I was an accountant and human resource manager in a company, so I managed people, and due to that, I was fascinated when I saw this scholarship offer. I immediately understood that it will help me develop more skills in the management of a company´s resources and that is why I applied for it.

One of my wishes is to acquire as much as possible about other people´s culture, way of doing business and language. So, when I finally got the scholarship to study at the International College of Management Sydney, I felt one part of my dream is being realised. Firstly, it is a prestige for me to be part of this renowned College of Management; secondly, it was very funny at the beginning due to the time differences we had. My lectures are held from 12 pm to 3 pm in Australia, but in Germany it is from 2 am to 5 am. I questioned myself at the beginning if I can make such efforts to get up at such an unearthly hour for lectures, but as time goes on, I find it possible and very exciting. Furthermore, one of my motivations to get up at such an early hour is my lecturer. He is so interactive during the course and is trying his best to project us in a real-world situation rather than just basing himself on theory.

In addition to that, I can say that the lectures are well structured in such a way that one can never leave the classes without having something retained on each topic. In addition, my classmates are from different parts of the world. For example, Vietnam, Australia, or Iran. They are very social and participative during the lectures. Each and everyone always tries to put an input in every topic we work on.

I thank the OTH Amberg-Weiden for this great opportunity given to me to gather more experience and this will definitely add more value to my career.

Receiving the acceptance email for the PROMOS-scholarship from the International Office of OTH Amberg-
Weiden was such a blessing in these hard times. Since the beginning of my studies at OTH Amberg-Weiden
I have been wanting to have a semester abroad in Australia. But because the students still have to
pay some fees to study there, it made me reconsider my dream. So, when I received an email about
this program I knew I would not want to miss this opportunity.

From several courses that were available, I decided to take Data Informed Decision Making. From
the very beginning, everyone from ICMS was really helpful and friendly. Because I missed the first two
online lectures due to late registration, the lecturer, Luisa Arango, sent me an email to check if I was
okay, which I think is a really sweet gesture. Then I explained my situation to her and that I most
likely would only be able to follow her class through recordings due to 10 hours time difference,
which she understands so well. If I have any doubts or any questions, she will respond my email
pretty quickly.
 

The most different thing I noticed from the lecture was that there are so many helpful websites and
articles provided by the lecturer to help the students understand the course beside her own
materials and even notes, yes notes, that contain a summary of every lecture of every week that I
believe were written by Luisa. They are also written with different colour of pen with additional little
funny notes here and there. I love it, it’s like reading my own friend’s note. The way she teaches too
is so much fun, she makes every lecture so lively. My fellow students from the course are all
from different countries. There are students from India, Indonesia, Hongkong, etc.
 

This is such a valuable experience for me and gives a very beautiful colour to my student life. Thanks
to this scholarship I can fulfil my dream and I will always cherish my time spent learning at ICMS
despite only through my laptop.