Opening new doors

Phoebe Videbeck talks about how her student exchange to VIA University College in Denmark helped her gain a new perspective and has opened new doors for life after graduation.

Phoebe Videbeck

Why I chose my host uni:

I chose to go to Denmark as I’m half Danish and was required to spend some time living there as part of my citizenship. I was lucky to have some family in the bigger cities for support and loved the idea of being able to travel around Europe easily. I really didn’t know much at all about VIA before actually getting there.

How I found applying to my host uni:

My process of application was a lot easier as I already had Danish citizenship, so didn’t have to go through the visa process or get any particular documentation. Getting your CPR number sorted is a major, but I think that you do a lot of that once you get up there and practically all of the students at the VIA Herning campus are international, so you’ll find a lot of support from people who have had to go through the exact same thing.

For my specific course I was required to send in multiple portfolios and a personal statement to be considered for acceptance, which was pretty overwhelming alongside my studies at AUT. I’d definitely recommend checking out these requirements and getting everything done well in advance if possible.

Everything is so much more complicated when you’re having to work things out in a different language – most of the time I had no clue what was going on, but it all worked out!

How I found learning in a different academic system:

This was probably the biggest challenge I found on my exchange, especially when you're dealing with a pretty practical subject where you need all of your equipment physically. The grading is different from New Zealand and a lot of the content was on vastly different things and taught in completely different ways.

The semester was also long in comparison to New Zealand; mine ran from August until mid-January with two weeks of break in total.

In the end I learned to not put the same expectations on it as I would have back home where I was most comfortable. While you’re on exchange, it’s just as much of a priority and effort to make the most of the experience and grow personally as it is to study.

What I gained from this experience:

I gained so much perspective and understanding of myself. I had never lived away from home before, so this time away was really shaping and I came back home with a completely new way of thinking and sense of self.

The travel I did outside of the exchange was by far the most influential – being given the agency to just book some tickets and stay in a foreign city has opened so many doors for life after graduation. I also gained a lot of appreciation for life back in New Zealand; being able to understand the local language and generally know what was going on around me again was a very welcome feeling.