Feeling ready to face new challenges
Kidis from Albania, Winter Semester 2020/2021
Hi guys,
I am Kidis Sako, an exchange student from Albania, and this was my second semester at RheinAhrCampus.
Was the second semester the same as the first one? Definitely not. In the beginning, I had a little doubt if the second semester would be similar to my first one. Now I know for sure that the new semester was full of new events, activities, learning, and friends. I am amazed by the fact that within each semester I had the chance to create so wonderful memories with new people. I never thought I would be so close to people that have such a different from mine cultural background. Those people turn out to be my best friends, with whom I have spent an amazing semester.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, we all found it difficult to engage with many people at the same time, but thanks to my extroverted nature, I managed to create connections will all the exchange students. I am happy that I went out of my comfort zone, and decided to get to know the other exchange students from all over the world. We went hiking, made barbeques, explored the near cities, and enjoyed the walks by the Rhine.
For one year, I have been an intern at RheinAhrCampus. I have learned a lot during my experience. What matters most to me is that I learned what type of working person I am. Sometimes I procrastinated my work and did it on the weekend. This made me realize that I prefer working on a strict timetable only on working days, rather than working on the weekends. This will help me in my future life work selection. Since I know that I am more productive on weekdays, in my future I will choose a job that best fits my interests.
My tasks during my internship involved:
• Supervising the OLAT digital learning platform by developing the course components, where I gained some technical IT related skills
• Administrating the digital teaching platform Moodle with course creation and editing rights, including modifying and uploading the course materials for the students, where I became more organized
• Being a course assistant in the “Project Management” course, where I was in touch with the teaching process, to use this knowledge in the future for teaching my own students
• Creating content for the social media, including the wording, where I developed my English writing skills
• Taking and selecting professional photographs, preparing photo release forms at various events and editing the photographs using Photoshop
• Keeping a fixed schedule by using a calendar for my tasks
• Prioritizing the important things I have to do
• Updating official documents such as E-Mail templates, informational documents for new incoming exchange students and providing meeting summaries
I am amazed how everyone is so ready to help me anytime. For example, I was part of the social media team and we needed to collaborate with the event organization team. In several cases, I asked the other team to provide some content in advance, so the social media team can work better, and we got their help anytime. This made me feel very comfortable, to express my opinion, and to work on my favorite projects.
I have learned a lot during these two semesters at RheinAhrCampus, specifically how to behave properly and adapt in a working environment. Like a bird goes out of its nest, I feel ready to face new challenges. I am looking forward to knowing what’s next! Life is full of surprises and we should get the best out of it!