TU Students in Urbino - Sufyan Abubakar
Who are You?
I am Sufyan Kamfa, born in September 24th 1991, a masters student at Tallinn University studying Communication Management with specialization in Intercultural communication. I am used to traveling abroad, and interested to communicate with people from different cultures and languages. I have lived in different countries for a longer period of time since I turned nineteen years of age.
The intercultural competences I have developed from my traveling around the world are to be always open-minded, adaptive, share positive vibes and be less cultural bound. This is a tendency not to impose my own culture on others and to be empathic especially while dealing with difficult situation. I am used to working in international teams and have gained positive experiences with teamwork This kind of intercultural experience will offer the ability to deal across cultures, which is increasingly important, as the world gets smaller. Getting smaller doesn’t mean the world is becoming identical, it means having more and more contact with people who are culturally different.
How did you learn about Eurocampus?
Although, I first read about Eurocampus from the university website, I remained curious until during my first semester which Eurocampus was hosted by Tallinn University. I was told how extraordinarily rich the Eurocampus experience also about the program from alumni students.
What were your main motivations to apply?
My humble interest to study at University of Urbino reckoned after participating in the telecollaboration program last semester with one of my group member a student from University of Urbino. I was captivated by our conversation and to know about Urbino as a Unesco world heritage. A city which experienced a great cultural flowering especially in the 15th century and a birth place of Raffaello Sanzio. It was an easy decision after reading about the quality courses offered at the Euro campus. I was assured this is one of a lifetime opportunity which one cannot afford to miss. What more can be more important than to have a high quality education from a highly ranked and historic university which integrates the whole of Europe?!
What are your first practical experiences and ways I adjust to them?
Urbino is a small and in fact very hilly city located in the central part of Italy, coming here with an expectation of a big city life would be the complete opposite. People are very relaxed and things are done at a steady pace without any haste. Such a factor makes a timely schedule very crucial. I had to adjust to the limited options and how to access them with my little to no knowledge of Italian. The people here are very welcoming and by any standard so helpful, this makes life here more enjoyable knowing that you will always fall into a helping hand.
Are there any obstacles to overcome while accommodating to study-related aspects and integrating into new sociocultural environment?
The orientation day was surely very overwhelming, imagine a class of 25 students from different disciplines and background, all eager to learn and share this new experience. We introduced ourselves and during a campus tour we had an opportunity to visit the grand pallazo Ducale; a majestic palace now turned into a museum displaying the epitome of renaissance art. There were so many activities that helped to integrate us with our fellow students, by the end of the first week we all travelled together out of Urbino for a linguistic landscape experiment.
Thereafter, classes started intensively, students have to adjust to the different methods of the visiting lecturers from the network university. Almost every week we have a new professor who is prepared to share lots of information within the short time frame. This was no doubt a moment when students are pushed to the edge of learning. The only way to come on top was reading and preparing with a head start!
Questions by Prof. Anastassia Zabrodskaja
Read the introduction here.
Read another student's story here.