Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Italy: Student feedback on FES mobility
Nikita Klyuchnikov shared interesting facts about his trip:
Studying at the Catholic University of Milan was interesting and very useful for me. In addition to the knowledge I gained, I had the valuable experience of studying in an international environment, getting to know people from different countries and their cultures. It was also a great opportunity to travel around Europe and discover beautiful and interesting cities.
Studies
The teaching format in Milan is very different from what I am used to. Whereas in our economics courses the emphasis is on mathematical models and doing lots of homework, this is much less the case here. The focus is on reasoning about economic issues rather than modeling them. For example, in the exam we had to write a mini-essay instead of the usual tasks. This format seemed much easier to me, the study load was less, but at the same time I got a lot of useful information. It was interesting to look at monetary and labour economics from a new perspective, which will definitely help me in my future career. The format of the course helped me to understand the topics I was studying more deeply.
Free time
I studied Italian alongside my business courses. This not only allowed me to learn the language from scratch and communicate with local people, but also gave me the opportunity to better understand the Italian culture. Perhaps the most valuable part of the course was getting to know people from different countries - Sweden, Germany, France, USA and others. Unlike the economics courses, which were mostly attended by local students, I found myself in an international environment. I have fond memories of going to the Milan-Verona game at the San Siro stadium, evenings in the bars of the Navigli district and morning cappuccinos between classes.
Travelling
As my study load was lighter, I was able to travel around Europe almost every weekend. During my studies I had time to visit Florence, Rome, Zurich, Geneva, Zermatt, Amsterdam, Paris, Luxembourg and Stockholm. I also had enough time to explore Milan: see the famous Duomo, taste the local cuisine, visit galleries and museums.
All in all, I had a great time in Milan. Not only did I gain useful knowledge and experience for my career studying in Europe, but I was also able to immerse myself in European and especially Italian culture.
Nikita Klyuchnikov, student of the HSE-NES Joint Program in Economics
