Spring semester Erasmus students graduation at BA School of Business and Finance
It has been 12 years since the first Erasmus student has come to BA School of Business and Finance. The time has passed and our Erasmus programme has been further improved and developed. Today we cooperate with more than 130 Universities, whereas it has grown across the European borders. We also have developed partnership with universities in South Korea, Vietnam and the USA.
In the spring semester BA School of Business and Finance received 17 students from 6 countries (Spain, France, South Korea, Germany, Hungary, and the Netherlands). BA School of Business welcomes not only Erasmus students for their studies, but also students for their internship. Currently the student from Turku University of Applied sciences (Finland), Thao Le is doing her internship at International office of BA School of Business and Finance Thao Le helps Erasmus coordinators with their daily tasks. She is very pleased to do her internship in Riga. Thao Le shares her experience that Riga is one of the best cities she has lived besides she loves the food, the landscape and the people. Working in the International Office provides great experience, especially if the colleagues are so nice. Thao Le points out that she feels like being one of the staff members and feels like at home. She is happy for the choice to live and do placement in Riga at BA School of Business and Finance.
On June 18 vice-rector Līga Peiseniece awarded Erasmus students with their certificates that certify successfully completed Erasmus study semester at BA School of Business and Finance. Erasmus coordinator Aiga Anitena congratulated all the students. The event was held in Albert Hotel lounge where all students were invited to spend a nice evening together sharing their experience and memories from their Erasmus studies in Latvia. The event was like a small celebration for all students and academic staff who have worked together over the last 5 month. During the evening the School and the academic staff received appreciation and gratitude from international students. Erasmus coordinator Aiga Anitena stressed that they felt being like one family. Students made new friends, learnt how to communicate and live together in intercultural environment. Many students emphasized the importance of improving their English language skills, they also benefited from the work in international teams.
Bjorn Endres from FH Kaiserslautern (Germany) remarked that one of the reasons for choosing Riga as the place for studies to learn more about Latvia because he was interested in the culture he did not know much about. In Latvia he has studied at “Finance” programme, the courses related to Finance gave him additional value. Being in Erasmus was a nice and enjoyable experience.
The international student from the Netherlands Ruben de Vries admits that the first impression about Riga was not so good as the weather was cold, there were not many people on the street. Nevertheless, after some time both the weather and his feelings changed. During his studies he managed to travel around and visited many places outside Riga: Jūrmala, Sigulda, Ventspils, Rēzekne and others. He remembers one of the adventures: a real sauna and a swim in the freezing pond of water. As an international student he was interested also in the issues of real estate market which he explored, so it might be that he returns to Riga after some time. Erasmus students felt excited to live and study in Riga. Two of the students Andre Knaus (Germany) and Guillaume Bonnemaison (France) even participated at BA School of Business and Finance football team games.
The vice-rector Līga Peiseniece, Erasmus coordinator Aiga Anitena, as well as academic staff members Maira Dumpe and Sandra Kraze wished them success in their studies and further career growth. BA School of Business and Finance would be happy to receive them at Master and Doctoral degree programmes. We hope to see you at our Master and Doctoral programmes.
