Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

I am Gabriel Ntelamo. I’m currently a third-year student pursuing a bachelor’s in marketing at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust). Earlier this year, I was grateful to receive an opportunity to travel overseas, where I was introduced to a new environment of excitement and exploration.

Where was this? Giessen, Germany, a well-known student capital 70 kilometres north of Frankfurt in the central region of Germany called Hessen, which is home to Frankfurt and Wiesbaden.

My stay in Germany was a fantasy of adventure turned into reality. Trust me, I didn’t believe this was happening until my flight landed at the Frankfurt airport. At that very moment, I knew my life was about to change for the better in respect to my career path as a marketer and raising my family name up high.

A really frightening opportunity back then for me, as I did not know what was going to be expected and, worst of all, had very little to no knowledge of the German language.

Fast forward to today, my academic experience in Germany over the past six months has been thrilling. I was enrolled in the faculty of business and economics, which exposed me to a variety of different business perspectives. One of my classes - sales strategy execution - assisted us in bettering our communication and negotiation skills, enabling us to create new relationships with top clients and leads. I must say, this was a class to remember as I am now well-connected via LinkedIn in the industry of sales and marketing in Germany.

Besides attending school at the Justus Liebig University, I had the opportunity to travel and watch big football games of which my first was in Monchengladbach, where I witnessed the 5-2 win between Germany and Italy. What a way to be introduced to the international stage of football giants! However, I managed to pick up some German vocabulary which is basic enough to hold a five-minute conversation. They didn’t believe in us, God did.

I would like to recommend anyone to grab an international study opportunity with both hands. Opportunities like these do not knock on your door every day. I wish you all the best with your future endeavours.