Graduates 2021 – off you go to start your careers
‘Learning is about interaction. Nobody makes it to gradation alone’. These were some of the words for the 2019 cohort from the Danish Director of SDC, Morten Laugesen, when they were celebrated at a graduation ceremony in Denmark.
The 2019 cohort is a special one. They started out in China before COVID-19 turned everything upside down, but they had to finish their degree online from their home countries. They did not get the full experience of meeting people from different backgrounds in real life, studying and living abroad. However, looking back, the students appreciate the first semester in China, where they built the foundation for the whole study programme.
Appetite for international opportunities
Jens Peter Paulsen is graduating from Water and Environment, and his appetite for international work opportunities is even greater than when he began his studies.
‘It was a unique opportunity to live and study for two years in China and a great way to test yourself. To see if you could work together with people that think differently to yourself and get projects started. Even though I did not get the full two years in China, I am more than keen on working internationally in the future. Getting cross-cultural collaboration right can be difficult, but when you succeed the output is so much better,’ says Jens Peter Paulsen.
He dreams of a job with an international perspective or a PhD with the opportunity for taking a long research stay, for instance, in China.
Built the foundation in China
Students from across the programmes met at the graduation and got a chance to congratulate each other and refresh the memories from China.
Signe Holm has been studying Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, and when she looks back on the two-year journey, two things come up to mind.
‘Luckily, we had the first semester in China, and we created a strong community across the study programmes, because we lived and studied together. The time in China was also challenging because we had a heavy workload, but we were in it together,’ says Signe Holm.
Click on the gallery below to see more photos from the celebration.
