Fifty Bar-Ilan University students recently left for Europe and Ireland as part of the Erasmus+ student exchange program, while six others went to North America. This is a big increase compared to the number of students who went abroad before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The countries include Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Ireland, Canada, and the US. Five of the students will be on exchange for an entire year while the rest will be there for one semester only. The students are undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from a variety of faculties and departments.
BIU Deputy President, Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, introducing students to the Student Exchange program
Bar-Ilan University’s student exchange program is not only open to those born in Israel. International students and immigrants are also able to participate during their studies.
New Immigrant, Yonina Schwartz, Heads to Hungary
This month, Yonina Schwartz starts the second year of her BA degree in English Literature at Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest, Hungary, where she’ll be for the first semester of this academic year. Yonina, originally from the US, made Aliyah (immigrated to Israel) (on date??) and decided to study English Literature at Bar-Ilan University. She is looking forward to this new chapter of her studies.
“I chose to go on student exchange because I believe it’s an amazing opportunity to see another part of the world, meet new people, and learn another culture, while also continuing my studies,” she said.
“I’m really excited about both the formal and informal learning I will have during my travels. The learning from my classes and the learning from my peers, experiences, and surroundings. I can’t wait to see where the semester takes me,” Yonina said.
Preparation for Student Exchange
In August, BIU’s International School hosted an event to prepare the exchange students for the upcoming journey. Oz Nackar, Director of Student Exchange, opened the event and welcomed everyone.
Rotem Benkel from Stand With Us addressing the students
Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, BIU’s Deputy President, provided a short background about the Erasmus+ program and asked the students to introduce themselves, their degrees, and the university to which they were going.
Ofer Dahan, International School Director, spoke about the experience, what to expect, how to make the most of it, and wished them all good luck.
Rotem Benkel and Adi Dovev Hagigat from Stand With Us spoke to the students about becoming ambassadors for Israel. She used an activity to show them how to tell Israel’s story and how to talk about themselves and their lives in Israel.
Noam Landau Reiss, International School intern, provided some technical information regarding the process and other important things they needed to know before, during, and after their trips.
