Studying logistics among elephants, rhinos and giraffes

– Jan-Hendrik Wacker, dual degree student at Nagel-Group, reports on his semester abroad in South Africa

Jan has been part of the Nagel-Group team at the Borgholzhausen site since he started his apprenticeship in 2017. After his apprenticeship, he decided to take a dual study programme at the DHBW in Stuttgart in autumn 2020. After his five-month semester abroad at the Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, he is now returning to his workplace.
In today’s interview, Jan gives a brief review of his time away from home and tells you about his personal highlights in South Africa.

Jan, why did you decide on a dual study programme and a stay abroad?

For me, it was already clear during my apprenticeship that I wanted to go even further into the subject after graduation. At the same time, it was important for me to continue gaining practical experience. The block model at the DHBW is simply ideal for this. Both in theory and in practice, the full focus is always on my tasks and projects in the respective phase.

I wanted to improve my English, gain new experiences and work on my personal development during my stay abroad.

How did you organise your stay?

After I made my decision, everything happened very quickly.

The reactions to my wish to study abroad for a semester were exclusively positive. My Head of department, our HR department and also the Administration Management quickly agreed to a semester abroad.

For the DHBW, it was crucial that the courses abroad fully replace my courses in Germany. For this, I needed a certain grade point average and a language certificate, which I had already acquired in the English course. The application to Nelson Mandela University was then really just a formality.

Obtaining a long-term visa as a student in South Africa was a little more complicated, as I had to submit various documents and medical examinations. I received my visa one month before departure. All the formalities for South Africa were thus taken care of, the only worry was the Corona pandemic. At that time, the rising numbers due to the Omikron variant still made me doubt until the day of departure whether the trip to South Africa could take place as planned. Fortunately, the situation in South Africa eased and I was able to start my trip at the end of January as planned.

What did a typical day in South Africa look like for you?

I lived in a large student dormitory in a quieter part of Port Elizabeth. The normal student routine was similar to that in Germany, except that we drank our coffee in the morning on the beach promenade, which was directly adjacent to our dormitory.

Some of the lectures were held online or at the university campus in English. I also wrote all my exams in English.

It’s not easy to describe a typical day – there were days that were completely filled with lectures, but also lecture-free days that were used for self-study. Most of the time, we met after the lecture and did sports together. In general, sports activities were encouraged a lot at the universities. There was almost no sport you couldn’t try on campus.

South Africans are rugby fans and it is always a huge event when the university rugby team plays a home game in their stadium every other Monday – which reminded me a bit of American high school movies. In the evening, we usually cooked together and then either went to one of the local bars or spent the evening relaxing with our roommates.

We usually used the days without lectures as beach days or to do activities together in the surrounding area.

Would you decide to study abroad again?

Yes, definitely! I met so many great people and was able to gain so many experiences during my stay there that I would never have been able to experience in Germany. I can recommend doing a semester abroad to anyone who has the opportunity to do so.