International - 19 nov 2018

Have you ever thought about being an International Professional?

Only those who have been on an exchange program knows how much growth this experience can bring

Part of the process of professional training in undergraduate studies is the experience of several professionals, institutions, and areas of education. The exchange, in addition to all these contacts, enables the experience of feeling part of another culture, sometimes completely different from the one you live.

This opportunity is also a way to gain fluency in a new language, develop autonomy and self-confidence. Going through this learning process can also mean an increase in the potential for employability and add to the curriculum.

So, for many students that have been attended or are still attending PUCPR, the exchange program has been transformative. Active from the very beginning of the Production Engineering Undergraduate Program, the student Sergio Lucas Santos Rocha has been approved for the Erasmus Mundus scholarship, educational mobility organized by the European Union, for a study abroad period in the in Slovakia.

“Thanks to the full support of the Internationalization Team, I was able to enjoy all the benefits of being an exchange student at Žilinská Univerzita v Žiline. For a year, I studied various Engineering disciplines and was able to handle advanced robotics equipment for manufacturing. I also finished an intermediate level of Slovak language, and I have met many European countries because of the location of the country, right in the heart of Europe”.

Returning to Brazil, Sergio got closer to the University scientific research projects. “I really enjoyed the research area and then right before my graduation I started working on my master’s in mechanical engineering. Then a year later, I sought PUCPR to help me achieve my next goal: to get a job abroad. Sergio then was once again hired to work at the Electrolux headquarters, as a specialist on a 3D Content in Stockholm, precisely a year later after graduating.

For Pery Freitas, a graduate in Dentistry, the exchange took place via Science Without Borders during the first semester of 2013. He went to the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. “It was one of the most transformative experiences I’ve ever had. I met students from all over the world, and I had a clash of cultural reality, “he explains.

During the second to last semester of graduation, the student participated in a lecture about the scholarship program of MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology of Japan). After submitting his Ph.D. project, Pery got in touch with a potential Supervisor at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, southern Japan, and was officially selected to participate in a 6-month-program, which includes intensive Japanese course plus a regular Ph.D. program that will last three to four years.

If you are or are planning to become a college student soon, why not start thinking about your possibilities of studying abroad? One thing is for sure; this will definitely benefit both your career and your self-knowledge!

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