Amigos Tapas Night Kick Off
Earlier this month, the Amigo Network was kicked off with a tapas night at Makkila restaurant.
At the beginning of every semester, the IE Amigo Network hosts a tapas night in order to connect exchange students with their assigned amigo. This semester, it was hosted on Thursday, Jan 11. in the Makkila restaurant. Many IE students and visiting students attended this event in order to network with new students around campus.
The amigo network was created by International Mobility Office and the Mentoring & Counseling Office in order to help exchange students integrate into IE life. It is present in both the Segovia and Madrid campus and so far it has been a success in both. An amigo is meant to facilitate the transition of visiting students by answering any questions they might have or directing them towards someone who can help them. Many of these students have never been to Europe or Spain so this helps them feel more comfortable about their semester abroad. Each amigo, who is an IE student, will usually have between 2-5 students assigned based on the amount of people who signed up and availability.
Due to IE’s connections around the world, there are students coming from various countries, ranging from Australia to North America. For example, Imane, a 3rd year Moroccan student who came for an entire year, from Science Po.
When asked why she chose IE she responded, "I wanted a business background to be able to decide which masters program I should chose. I was also interested by the type of international environment IE offered which is similar to the one I had in Science Po. Finally, I love Spain, and thought that the connections Spain has with Morocco could be to my advantage as I wish to work in my home country in the future.”
Similarly, Jung Jing from South Korea said she chose Spain because of IE’s BBA program and the possibility of meeting international students.
We also spoke to Jaclyn from Houston, Texas, who is a visiting student studying full-time at USC. She says she mainly choose IE because of its prestige, international environment, and her interest in Spain and its culture. Jaclyn was also impressed by IE’s emphasis on technology and entrepreneurship since she wishes to start her own business at one point in her life.
Other students come from a much closer distance, thus having to endure less of a change. For example, Nicholas from Germany, is a second year student at EBS who wanted to come to IE because of its high ranking and the opportunity to learn Spanish. He has had a background similar to many IE students since he has lived in different places, such as New York and Sweden.
These are just a few examples of the very interesting people who are new on our campus and attended the amigo event. This event, among others hosted by the amigo network throughout the semester, is a great opportunity to meet new students and introduce them to our community.
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