"This mentoring-program is dramatically helpful to me! It made my stay in Bielefeld perfect."
-a Chinese student
"The Brother-Sister-Program contributed to my well-being at the university and in Bielefeld. Simply being able to talk to someone when I needed help was very convenient."
- a Czech student
The Brother-Sister-Program was founded at Bielefeld University in the Wintersemester of 1998/99. It was based on the idea of an Egyptian student who had experienced the difficulties of studying abroad. He wanted to develop a program which offers a one-on-one mentoring to international students.
Next to the valueable experiences and great fun, studying abroad also brings along many challenges. Whoever has experienced this can most certainly agree: language barriers can lead to insecurity, and everything takes more time to do - gathering and understanding information, organizing one's studies, simple every day tasks and meeting new people. In other words: you might have trouble finding a flat or a job, taking notes during class, understanding the library system etc.. And when you're insecure, it can also be quite an effort to talk to strangers and make new friends - i.e. to simply feel at home.
The Brother-Sister-Program wants to support international students by finding a mentor who will help meet all these challenges.
Having a mentor means:
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