From Denmark to Cairo, AUC Student Shares Her Experience

Communication and Media Arts (CMA) Student at AUC, Mariam Elbanna reflects on her experience of having a semester abroad in Aarhus, Denmark at the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX).

My experience in Denmark has been really good so far, from an academic perspective, it has been an interesting change. For starters, most of the work has been out on the field and there are very few lectures and in doing so, I have definitely gained a lot of real-life experience – although it can be challenging at times.

All the work is done in groups, and throughout the semester the groups, as well as our roles within them, change so no one gets stuck doing one thing the whole time.

The feedback and class discussions are some of the most educational experiences I have had so far. The method of feedback here includes pitching assignment ideas to the whole class and getting comments from them and the professor.

This has been very helpful because there are always many different perspectives and comments, especially with all of our different backgrounds, that even if you don’t agree with all the points that are made they still give you other ideas and open up your mind to new angles and possibilities.

A similar method goes for the assignments themselves, once the first cut of the video is ready, each group is assigned another group to give feedback to for their video in front of the class.

What’s great about this is that all the groups give very detailed and honest feedback, so there is always a lot to learn in terms of what could have been done better in addition to very useful points to keep in mind for the future.

As for the personal perspective, I am very comfortable here after being stuck in quarantine for months away from my family. My family lives in Saudi Arabia and due to the travel ban, I was unable to join them when AUC switched to remote learning.

Being half Albanian, coming here was not a challenge as much as it was comforting because it made me feel closer to home. There is a lot of resemblance between Aarhus and my home town in Albania, so I had no trouble coping.

I also love being part of an international group as I have always felt most comfortable in diverse environments, because of my own personal background. It has been great having so many different perspectives whether it’s something school-related or a discussion about any other topic while hanging out.

The international group is also very open-minded, so no matter what the discussion is, everyone is willing to listen and respect other people’s views and experiences.

So far, the whole experience has been very pleasant for me. I have learned a lot and made some great friends throughout the process.