A brief background:
My name is Ditte-Marie and I had the pleasure of being part of the George Washington School of Business (GWSB) exchange program for the fall 2019 semester. This graduate exchange counted towards my master’s in Political Communication and Management at Copenhagen Business School (CBS), which I completed in the Spring 2020.Prior to my master’s program, I completed my bachelor’s degree in Communication at The Danish School of Media and Journalism, and since 2018 I have worked as a political assistant of a member of the Danish Parliament. When applying for graduate programs in Denmark, I looked for one that had an established exchange program in Washington, D.C., for I knew what opportunities studying in the U.S. could provide. I was looking for a program that would widen my horizons, as well as challenge me personally and academically. The exchange program with the GWSB was the perfect fit.
A Semester of Memories
Dozens of memories run through my mind as I think about my exchange semester at GWSB! The location of the school is unbeatable. Everything from going on runs through the U.S. capital on sunny days, to exploring all the beautiful neighborhoods, like Georgetown and Alexandria. It is honestly a chapter in my life that I will forever cherish.
While the location was important to the experience, the people I met along the way truly made it unforgettable. One memory of mine that stands out is of a Sunday afternoon when I visited a local winery out in Virginia. I met up with a bunch of classmates from my leadership class and we indulged in the beautiful fall weather until sunset, all the while appreciating the beauty of our surroundings in the vineyards. Overall, we were a diverse group. Our nationalities included everything from Danish to Puerto Rican, Brazilian, Chinese and Americans. While we all came from different parts of the world, we all shared the desire and curiosity to learn and explore. We also were united by our interest in studying at GWSB, the leadership course, and desire to meet new people. I do not take that memory or experience for granted. In that moment, I remember thinking that if I previously thought that I had experienced cultural diversity, then I had the full experience this time.
A Semester of New Opportunities
While I am appreciative of the memories I made during my exchange at GWSB, I am also grateful for the opportunities it provided. My exchange semester at GWSB offered me lots of new opportunities; most importantly, the opportunity to explore new courses not available at CBS. The courses that impacted me the most were those with a more practical approach, taught by dedicated professors with actual experience within the professional arena in which they teach. This allowed me to translate a lot of the theoretical perspectives that I had learned at CBS into actual scenarios provided by my GWSB faculty. This experience was very useful for me and actually ended up helping me navigate and find a path in which I wish to pursue a career. Somehow, being able to apply knowledge to reality allowed me to view my professional preferences in a new perspective.
Overall, my classes at GWSB focused highly on reflective skills, which both allowed for and encouraged active self-reflection of my own academic, personal, and business-thinking ability. While at CBS, we study different phenomena theoretically, GWSB allowed me to study myself in order to improve both personally and academically.
Participate in a semester exchange… you will never regret it!
Whenever I am asked why I would recommend others to participate in the GWSB exchange program, my answer is rather simple: “You will not regret it! The experiences, challenges, and skills will shape and impact you for the rest of your life personally, academically and professionally. I am thankful for my opportunity to study at GWSB, and you will be too!”’
Ditte-Marie Rye Jenson is a 2020 graduate from the Copenhagen School of Business. During the Fall 2019 semester, Ditte-Marie spent a semester on exchange at the GW School of Business.
