A semester abroad comes with various challenges, many of which were addressed at the 2023 globAL night. The event was organised for the first time by students at the ZHAW School of Applied Linguistics.

The globAL night was the perfect event for students who are interested in studying or doing an internship abroad during one semester. This year’s motto was Experience of a Lifetime? Five students from the Bachelor’s programmes Communication and Media Studies, Language and Integration and Multilingual Communication shared experiences from their semesters abroad. The returnees talked about their impressions, experiences and highlights, and they answered questions like “How do I get to know new people?” or “How do I cope with cultural differences?”.

The returnees had gained their experience in places such as Kenya, Germany or Guatemala and shared their insights with participants. A semester abroad can be quite a challenge – especially getting used to new surroundings or adapting to the local culture and language. This requires courage and persistence but, in the end, the experience builds confidence and resilience. A semester abroad helps students build an international network and broaden their horizons. The same can be said of the event organisers: for the first time, the event was planned, organised and run independently by five students from the Communication and Media Studies programme. One of the students even got the opportunity to present the globAL night as part of a Project Plus in the Event Management module.