Choosing Erasmus elective courses as an exchange student: To elect or not elect?

Published by flag-ph Rhomir Yanquiling — 2 years ago

Blog: Erasmus Academics
Tags: Erasmus tips

One of the most crucial decisions that one undertakes when doing an Erasmus exchange is on the matter of choosing the courses that you are going to take for an entire semester. I consider this point a crucial and controlling factor because your academic life and possible future opportunities largely depend on the courses that you take and the corresponding knowledge and skills that you would acquire at the end of the day. In a sense, this aspect of your Erasmus life requires some forms of strategic thinking. It is like getting a plunge into the water in a naval battle and decide later what to do when in actual battlefield.

Choosing Erasmus elective courses as an exchange student: To elect or not elect?

Strategic thinking is important

Interestingly, only a few students give a reflective thought on this aspect of their Erasmus life. They think that studying at another university as an exchange student is solely a form of educational tourism, whatsoever. I beg to disagree. At a more contemplative mood, one would realize that your mobility experience to a foreign soil in a university which has an entirely different set-up as that of yours can exert more or less significant impact to some of your career decisions later in life.

My host university and the courses I have taken during my mobility in the university had exerted so much impact to my later views in life.

Choosing Erasmus elective courses as an exchange student: To elect or not elect?

Which courses are best to choose: two contrasting opinions

May I discuss two prevailing views on how students deal on the matter of deciding which elective courses to undertake during their Erasmus exchange mobility, i. e., what principal factor they undertake when choosing elective courses. The first view relates that when an Erasmus student is faced with choosing elective courses to undertake, he should primarily consider his talents and interests. The opposing view suggests that it is more important to take into account the future opportunities relevant to the courses to be chosen.

The advantages of choosing a course you like

  • Those who espouse the idea that primordial in making decision as to the elective courses to choose is the person’s talents and interests. There were some reasons advanced to support this idea. There is one guy from Asia who told me that it is utterly useless to be taking a subject or course which is entirely foreign to one’s personal interest. According to him, it is really difficult to tackle a course which one does not like. He told me further that you are likely to spend much more effort and will take you much more time to understand the subject matter which you do not personally love to do. This guy explains that when you really like the courses you take it is more likely that you can finish them on time and has a greater possibility of concluding successfully. And since it is within your line of interest, your learning the subject matter is very much more efficient and effective enabling you to absorb the ideas and skills retentively.
  • It also stimulates all your nerves and your body releases a happy hormone to listen to the lectures and discussions, activates you to join actively on the activities of the class. Hence, making you a more fruitful and productive students. One example that we can cite to support this is when a student chose a particular discipline which he does not like. If that so happens, there is a great likelihood that he would not be able to finish the course for one reason or another. More likely, he would be shifting to other courses which would titillate his interest. In a plain explanation, choosing a course which you do not like is a mere wastage of time, money and effort.
  • Choosing a useful course for the future

    On the other hand, there are those who advocate the idea that what is significant in choosing courses during mobility exchange is to consider future opportunities and the direct relevance to job market of the courses to be undertaken. I am of the opinion that this view inclines more or less to the more practical perspectives in choosing courses. It is not easy to choose courses when you are torn between two pressing and important factors of consideration. One may choose a finance or management courses in lieu of humanities or social science courses with the end in mind of being able to land a good internship or better job opportunities. Others may find it more relevant and pragmatic to do business intelligence or big data courses in lieu of such more arcane subjects such as sociology or political science since the former gives the person a better job prospect than the latter. This is so because IT courses such as business intelligence and big data are in-demand nowadays and that the market is going towards that direction. Hence, there is such a huge demand for IT specialists who can meet the skills requirement of some huge companies and IT firms.

    What makes more sense then? Choosing courses within one’s line of interest or choosing courses which are within one’s job spectrum?

    I was at the E Building when conflicting ideas like these occur to mind. If brainstorming is a form of mind exploring activity, then I must be in deep brainstorming sessions thinking what the future has in store for me?

    Choosing Erasmus elective courses as an exchange student: To elect or not elect?

    My opinion

    It is my humble view that when you consider choosing a course during your mobility exchange programme, it would make much more sense to consider one’s interest and talents. There are a good number of reasons for this point of decision apart from the reasons which were already mentioned in the previous paragraphs of this discussion. Let me add some few good points to corroborate with these arguments.

  • Firstly, I personally believe on the idea that enthusiasm and a burning desire are capable of moving mountains. Enthusiasm and a burning desire to acquire knowledge and skills are two important ingredients to enable a particular student to make the most out of his mobility experience. If you really love what you do, it is as though you are no longer studying rather you are enjoying learning. Learning and fun are not incompatible with each other. One can learn while enjoying academics. The reverse is likewise true. One can also enjoy academics while learning. In the first place, the first virtue of learning is being able to change one’s self for better. If one is enthusiastic and desirous of what he is doing, he would surely become more successful in what he does. It is really not a good thing to do a certain activity which your body and mind loathe.
  • Secondly, if your chosen courses are within your interest and talents, it is much easier for you to adapt and re-adapt one’ self to situations. This is not possible when the courses you are taking are entirely Greek to you and that they are absolutely foreign to your humanly inclinations. As they say some people are fashioned to a certain type of profession, others are destined to be disciples of certain discipline; hence the term disciples.
  • Finally, life can be much more enjoyable and less stressful if the courses you have chosen are the courses that you love to do. It frees yourself from the obligation of complying with requirements of the courses forcefully, which more often than not, would take a much toll to your time and energy. As they say, life is too short to be thrown away. Why should you stress yourself from something that you do not want in life? It is a far better decision to focus on your chosen courses which are within your field of interest and give the most of your energy in it. When you do that, you can be the most powerful and determined soul in the universe to achieve a goal which you envision.
  • You could end up like this rushing water of the Danube river during cold winter days if you try to go against nature's ways.

    Choosing Erasmus elective courses as an exchange student: To elect or not elect?

    Final thoughts

    In certain respects, it should be mentioned here that our decision are usually governed by our emotion and intellectual reasoning. At one portion of our brain tells us that we should follow what our heart dictates and proceed with what we are interested in and do those things which we really love to do in life. On the other portion of our brain tells us that it is more sensical to look at the near future, dive deep to what is more pragmatic and relevant to our needs. There are people who so followed their interest and they were pretty much successful in life. There are those who were merely forced by circumstances and so found themselves in a situation where they finally have to decide to revert back and turn back time so that they can follow the dictates of their heart, follow it faithfully and be guided upon by some Infinite Intelligence to listen what their heart desires. Pretty much they would be able to find the connecting points, retrace their footprints and realign their destiny to the desired path, one which they have failed to discover at one point in their life. It maybe a late realization, but in life it can never be too late if you are determined to rectify your past omissions and show willingness to accept one’s immediate problem and ever ready to do something about it.


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