Hello! I am Muhammet Oguz a third year EBA student. For my double-degree year I studied at Hochschule Fur Technik in Stuttgart (HFT) Germany.

During my exchange period I was not able to attend to any in presence lectures because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus the university was closed, and the lectures switched from presence to remote. Because of this situation I was not able to meet with my classmates and practice and improve my German language knowledge.

Despite everything since during my studies, I have been staying at a dormitory where other students also stayed I had the chance to make friendships and meet people eager to learn and succeed in life. This environment has really motivated me to stay focused on my studies and stay in Germany.

Because of the remote learning method adopted during the pandemic it was not possible for me to experience a real academic year in presence. For this reason, I am not able to compare the educational system adopted at HFT University with that adopted at Metropolia Business School.

Stuttgart is a really nice city where you can enjoy a variety of cultural and leisure activities, through which you can meet other international students as well as local ones. Living expenses are quite reasonable if compared to Finland even though finding an accommodation is rather difficult and expensive. Stuttgart has good public transport; train tickets are rather cheap and allow you to visit other German cities in a fast way. For example, Frankfurt it is only one and a half hours distance by train, Switzerland and München two hours and a half.

Among the leisure activities I have enjoyed in Stuttgart I would recommend wine hiking, visit the top of the Radio Tower, visit the old towns of Esslingen and Ludwigsburg.

During this year I was able to experience living in a totally different environment compare to that I have been living in Finland. It was also my first time living alone. At times I missed my family, but getting out of my comfort zone has contributed to my personal growth and has enhance my desire to learn more in order to reach my goals.