American University of Central Asia - AUCA - SPOTLIGHTS

Spotlights

Makhabat Tashbaltaeva

Junior, Business Administration

Makhabat Tashbaltaeva is a student of the Business Administration department and awardee of a US-CAEF scholarship. She is spending her Fall 2014 semester in Oslo, Norway. Makhabat shared with us her impressions about her study abroad at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

"AUCA offers great opportunities for students to study abroad through exchange programs. An exchange semester abroad is an excellent chance to gain an incredible experience of travelling, of meeting people, learning different cultures and gaining valuable knowledge for a future career. While choosing a country and a university I did not hesitate to apply for an exchange in Norway.

First of all because Norway offers a great chance to study at the School of Business and Economics at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Ås (a city 45 min. from Oslo on a train). Second, all expenses of students related to exchange semester are covered by AUCA and NMBU. I think studying at NMBU is the best choice to do an exchange semester for students from the Economics and Business Administration departments as well as from all other departments. NMBU offers a lot of courses from different fields of study available in English.

Oslo is a small European city surrounded by hills and forests. The city is located on Oslo Fjord; it has a lot of old buildings and does not have so much of modern construction, which makes the capital city a very cozy nest. Oslo is a very quiet and peaceful which is not so typical for capitals. Together with museums like the Viking Ship museum, Edvard Munch Museum, Oslo city museum, Film museum, Modern Art museum, Natural history museum, Nobel Peace center, Vigeland Sculpture park, and the Royal Palace, there are lot of shopping malls, bars and cafes. Oslo as well as all other cities of Norway are very expensive, so going to cafes and bars might be very expensive. But the scholarship from the program is sufficient to visit museums, eat healthy food and travel around Norway and maybe to other European countries.

The application process is very simple. Applicants just need to bring all required documents to the program coordinator before the deadline, however to become an applicant the GPA at the moment of application has to be above 3.5. One week after I handed the application I got an email from program coordinator that I was selected to participate in this Exchange program. Right after that I started to plan my trip to Norway.

The Norwegian University of Life Sciences is located in the very peaceful city of Ås and there is a student village nearby (7 min. walking from University), where together with Norwegian students most International students live. I think it is the best place to live, because the conditions of this dormitory are very, very nice. Everyone has their own room, but shares a kitchen with 5 other students (popular type of dormitory). The rooms and kitchens have all necessary furniture and all household appliances. Everything is done for students’ convenience and comfort.

Before applying to an exchange programs, I think, it is very important to choose the right city, so the climate will not disturb the educational process. Also it is very crucial to take care about the courses which a student is going to study at a host university, the courses should be counted at AUCA at least as electives.

AUCA gives an excellent educational background. The course of FYS (First Year Seminar) during freshman year is very important, since here we start to construct our first academic speeches in English. It is very important for further development. All courses taken at AUCA are very helpful for me here in NMBU. The courses of Micro and Macroeconomics as well as Statistics that I studied at AUCA were prerequisites for studying International Economics and Econometrics at NMBU.

I want to finish my exchange at NMBU successfully, pass all the exams and come back to AUCA to continue my education.

I want to encourage every AUCA student to participate in an exchange program. It is an amazing experience that makes you feel positive, broadens the mind, and helps you to develop spiritually. It is a great chance to make friends all around the world; it is a chance to travel, to see other cultures, to represent your own, to gain knowledge and to spend time for benefit."

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American University of Central Asia
7/6 Aaly Tokombaev Street
Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic 720060

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