Name: Oana Talos
Nationality: Romania
Graduation Year: 2014 (Cohort 2)
Mobility Path: MUST Mbarara -> internship at Nakivale Refugee Settlement
Current Job: Social Counsellor at Jesuit Refugee Service
Oana's story:
EMMIR is about migration and migrating. You learn from it while travelling, and the topics cover a wide range of aspects on migration. You will meet people from all over the world and discover yourself at least 3 different countries. It's serious and fun somehow at the same time. I chose EMMIR for its focus on migration and for the mobility paths it offered. I loved the fact that EMMIR was about migration and interculturality in theory and practice. It was amazing to study in so many countries with people from so many different nationalities as colleagues and professors. EMMIR provided me with the theoretical background needed to work on forced migration issues. And the option of doing an internship in a refugee settlement was of great help in experiencing these theories in practice.
The internship was definitely the most helpful for my professional interest in working with humanitarian organizations on the topic of forced migration. But I also enjoyed Jan's course on movies and migration. Never watched a movie the same afterwards! The conference EMMIR organized was also an insightful experience on migration from many varied perspectives. The course on Norwegian migration was also full of new and interesting information. I had never guessed Norwegians used to be so keen on migrating to the US! And, last but not least, I loved the course that turned us into wanna-be theater actors. Helped me discover how art can be used to talk about complex topics such as migration. And also made me realize I'll starve if I ever wanted an acting career.
If I had to give advice to current and prospective EMMIR students, I would say: it might seem hard sometimes, but it will definitely be worth it.
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