Alumni
Former Exchange Student Interviews FIDM Staff
Eszter Nemeth, who hails from Hungary, attended FIDM Los Angeles in Spring 2018 for an exchange semester while she was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Branding and Marketing Management at VIA University in Herning, Denmark. “As my home university was a fashion institute as well, they had a great partnership with FIDM, so I decided to chase the sun,” said Eszter, who studied in the Apparel Industry Management program. “Everyone was super welcoming, staff and students equally, so it was easy to feel like home even after just such a short time.”
She said she was able to try and learn things she wouldn’t have otherwise and met some of her best friends while studying at FIDM. Eszter finished the quarter on the Honor Roll and remembers her instructors fondly since they “were all from the industry and shared a lot of their personal experiences, which were great insights.” While Eszter was in Los Angeles, she bonded with other exchange students from different parts of the world. “We went on multiple road trips and explored together, which I’ll never forget,” she recalled.
Today, Eszter is enrolled in a master’s degree program in Online Business and Marketing at Hochschule Luzern in Switzerland. As part of her studies, she has published a series of blog posts on the topic of studying abroad. She recently interviewed FIDM International Student Director Ben Weinberg and FIDM International Affairs Director Sarah Repetto for a pair of posts that explore their roles and the International Student experience at the college, which we’ve excerpted below:
Why is it important for FIDM to have such a significant international student body?
Ben Weinberg: It’s important for your institution to have a very diversified student body because not only do you learn from your education, but you learn from each other. So if you’re going to a school with all the same type of person that’s no different than you, you’re not benefiting from that experience. With the world being as global as it is, your students need to have an international perspective. People from different walks of life, different religions, belief systems, socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities so that they can learn and benefit from the experience. You benefit from seeing things from different ways of thinking; education needs to incorporate aspects of the whole world. So every college across the globe has an interest and a duty to maintaining an international curriculum.
Can you tell me more about your role and FIDM’s study-abroad elements?
Sarah Repetto: Most of our study abroad programs are short term and they range anywhere from 3-17 days, we have both domestic and international programs. They go all over the world and one of our biggest destinations is Paris, France. Recently, we did our first trip that was open to all students to China, so these are our study abroad components. I also run our exchange program which has been primarily inbound students. However, this last quarter, we had our first student go to KEA in Copenhagen, Denmark. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to do more of those in the future. Because of the title of my position I also do international articulation agreements with international schools. And I also coordinate various workshops and special events and visits by various international guests who come to the college.
Read more from Eszter's interviews with Ben and Sarah.
Categories: Apparel Industry Management Alumni International
