I spent the academic year from 1998 to 1999 in Berlin, Germany and I still regard it as one of the most formative periods of my life in every sense. First and foremost, I was able to hone my language skills to a level of fluency and cultural awareness that I could never have attained without spending a prolonged stint in-country. Secondly I broadened my network of contacts to take in professors, practitioners and peers not only in Germany, but also from scores of other countries in Europe and beyond. Thirdly I was able to immerse myself in a foreign culture and adopt new perspectives on the world, new goals and ambitions, and even new lifestyle choices (Berlin influenced my approach to fashion, food, musical taste and time-management, to name but a few!). I put a lot into my year overseas (studied hard, took risks, led a diverse and enjoyable social life) and I feel that I reaped the rewards of the experience ten times over.
Since graduating from Glasgow University School of Law in 2000, I have regularly had cause to thank my good fortune at having taken part in the Erasmus programme. Starting with the most recent, I was appointed in January 2006 by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe to assist a Swiss parliamentarian, Senator Dick Marty, in the Parliamentary Assembly's investigations into (alleged) illegal detention centres and rendition flights operated by the United States, mostly in the context of its "war on terror". Senator Marty and I are working closely together on issues of considerable political sensitivity and legal complexity... and throughout it all, our common language of communication is German.
Similarly, other influential figures in the Council of Europe, such as the Secretary of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee and the Head of the Human Rights Law and Policy Division, are German nationals; with them I feel that I have been able to enjoy a much more multi-layered working relationship by virtue of not only speaking their language, but also knowing where they come from (their hometowns, the universities they studied at, the institutions they've worked in, etc) and having a close affinity to their capital city - all thanks to my study overseas.
Moreover, for three-and-a-half years since May 2002 I have worked in the fields of conflict prevention, human rights and transitional justice in the United Nations system. I recently moved back to Europe after three years in Sierra Leone, where I was lead researcher in the UN's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), then Project Co-ordinator for the TRC Follow-Up Project, a joint initiative of the UN with several local and international non-governmental organisations.
How does the UN link back to my study overseas? Well, my first ever encounter with the UN – and indeed with the politics of development and transition - came during my time in Berlin, when I was a member of the Freie Universitaet Berlin's delegation to the Model United Nations in New York. Together with team-mates of various nationalities, I spent six months researching and representing the Republic of Bangladesh in a simulated UN General Assembly.
In addition I was able to attain a "Certificate of Advanced Study and Training in Mediation" in Berlin, thanks to my acceptance onto a bilingual course of study at the city's other university, the Humboldt. This course and other "sidelines" I pursued in Berlin demonstrated to me that the Erasmus experience goes far beyond the gates of your host university.
I feel that I could write several pages on how my study overseas has stood me in good stead for a full and fulfilling future career. I hope my story can be of some use in demonstrating the formidable strengths of Erasmus and encouraging more students to get involved in them in the future.
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