My name is Diego Kelen, I'm Brazilian and spent the first semester of 2010 as exchange student of University Mannheim. These six months were for sure the best I have ever lived. I made many friends from different countries, I had the opportunity to improve my german skills, my English skills, I traveled to more than 10 european countries and got really important business administration content from the university , that will be very usefull in my future studies and professional experiences in Brazil. I attended six courses in University Mannheim: Investments II, Earnings Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance, Strategic Management II and Marketing Plannung und Controlling (in german).

The experience I had in Germany was that good for me that I want to stay here more time. I was looking for a internship in Marketing for the next six months and in May I finally got it. I going to work in Kaercher, a producer of cleaning machines located in Winnenden (close to Stuttgart). I hope that is going to be an amazing experience and I'll really see how are the daily business of german companys, I'll have the opportunity to improve my german skills and lern about category management.

The experience I had in the guesthouse M2 of the university was perfect as well. I stayed in a flat in the 5th floor , sharing the flat with two other exchange students of the university, one from USA, Cameron and the other from Canada, Derek. The guesthouse is very close to the university and we can go anytime to the library to study and don't waste time taking buses or trams. The staff of the welcome center was very helpful, polite and friendly . All the times me and my flatmates had any problem regarding anything that was not working in our flat or any doubt we had, they were ready to help us and give us support. I remembered the first day when I arrived in Mannheim on a Sunday at 3am after 17 hours travelling in a day that was snowing too much and went to the place I arranged with the welcome center to get my keys. The keys were in the right place, with a welcome letter and a pack of Gumibaer. I got in the flat and everything was organized, clean, all the documents and advises about Mannheim on the table. I really felt safe and at home after that. I would really like to thank the Ekkehard Foundation to provide this kind of place for international students, researchers and professors. The rent allowance was very important for me because all the costs in Europe are very high, specially for people that come from countries like mine where the currency worths a third of euro.

Thank you very much for everything,

Diego Kelen