Posted By cbslife on Jun 25, 2013
Have you ever dreamt about studying abroad at one of the best universities of the world? Then Nordic Study Abroad Conference 2013 is for you! NSAC is a yearly conference gathering the 250 most ambitious Nordic students with top university representatives from around the world. This is an amazing opportunity you do not want to miss!
Apply now via this link and secure your spot at NSAC 2013 on September 14 at PwC. Application Deadline: September 1st (It’s soon so you better hurry up!)
Here is a personal story from a guy who lived his dream, and studied abroad in the United Kingdom…
“I am Jakob Glibstrup, a 21-year-old Business Studies student at Cass Business School in London, currently doing my bachelor degree. From the beginning, I wanted to study Business Studies at a world-class university, because I had an ambition to be a part of or start my own NGO that would combat extreme poverty on a global scale. The majority of the people in our part of the world as well as you and I, are extremely privileged with opportunities and living standards. Billions of people fight to satisfy the most basic needs on a daily basis. I wanted to change that. So here is my story about going abroad for my studies in order to achieve the necessary skills to carry out the above ambition one day, and how the Nordic Study Abroad Conference and the inspiring co-founders made it possible for me to be where I am today.
I guess my story already started when I decided (with vital support from my parents) to move across the entire country to study at a special high school in Copenhagen with more high-level subjects than anywhere else in Denmark. I had just turned 16, and it was obviously a huge change to move away from my parents, friends etc., but I was keen to reach my wildest goals. In short, my motivation to do what I did was my worst imaginary scenario: to sit sometime in the future and think “what if”. Life, and especially education, is full of challenges and opportunities, and if we never take that risk, take that chance, take that opportunity filled with uncertainty, we will never know which outcome, successful or unsuccessful, we missed out on. But why I am including this consideration? Because it was this exact motivation that made me pursue a dream of a world-class experience and degree abroad. And because the glass is half full, not half empty.
Now, it wasn’t until the final months of high school I even heard of this “opportunity of studying abroad”. Like many others, the educational experience abroad I wanted to pursue was as an exchange student for a semester. That was what most students did back then. That was the norm. That was, I was told, my opportunity to study abroad. That was what I read about. That was it.
Then one of my classmates further triggered my interest and curiousness regarding studying abroad. He had applied for Oxford, and I remember staring at him with my eyebrows raised saying, “but, dude, isn’t it impossible to go somewhere like that? I mean, isn’t it, like, Hogwarts?” He smiled at me, and started explaining a bit about the possibilities of studying abroad. That day I went home to go online and do research on what my international options really were. It led me to a website on studying abroad, which mentioned a Danish guy studying in London at one of the best universities in the world. At once, I decided to fly to London and visit him personally (and which I would highly recommend to everyone; if you’re not 100 % sure of applying or studying somewhere, go beforehand and talk to someone who already studies there. I promise you, just by walking around an university, chatting with a student etc. will convince you in most cases why you should not do as all the rest – why you should take that chance you keep wondering would be worth it or not). By the end of my visit, I was convinced. I now knew for certain that I wanted to apply to become a student at the best business schools in the UK.
From my visit I learned that I needed fairly high grades to have a shot at the universities I was interested in applying to. So, I worked hard, really hard, the last months of high school and was fortunate enough to graduate with an overall mark of 12.3. I remember making an arrogant mistake here, since I figured I would ‘naturally’ be offered a place at Oxford (my 1st priority) with these grades; although I was offered an interview, I was not made a offer to study. One of the main reasons why? Because grades alone do not determine whether you are eligible! Therefore, don’t let your grades decide whether or not it is an option for you to study abroad, because once you have reached a certain academic level (which is achievable by anyone), world-class universities look for interpersonal skills and academic as well as personal potential. Make sure that you prepare yourself as an applicant in whole – in regards to grades but also e.g. extra curricular activities etc.
And then suddenly the day came where my dream became reality. The day I received an offer from the highest-ranking business school in London (2nd in the UK, only beaten by Oxford), Cass Business School. The day where all my worries, although they still existed, were overshadowed by something much greater. My world-class education. And how did this happen? Nordic Study Abroad Conference exposed me to the idea of studying abroad, and I can only thank the co-founders and the entire team of 2011, 2012 and 2013 for the fact that I’m sitting at the 6th floor in the library of one of the best universities in the world writing this right now, looking at Big Ben in the horizon. This conference is the, by far, best opportunity in Scandinavia to start your journey towards studying abroad, and here is the reason why: Nordic Study Abroad Conference makes you want to jump in at the deep end of the pool. And sure, you’ll struggle in the beginning, you’ll have a tough battle – but when you manage to make it to the surface and thereby learn to swim, you’ll thank yourself for not always wanting to go in at the lower end of the pool.
My experience with studying abroad initially started with an ambition and a dream. The concept of Nordic Study Abroad Conference made this possible; the mentality of the people involved made it possible for me. That is really the most essential reflection I have in general at this point in time. Life is decided by coincidences, but it is up to you to decide what people and surroundings should provide these coincidences.
Thank you for letting me share my story, and good luck in achieving the wildest goals you can imagine.”
Apply now, and then soon you will be able to share YOUR story!