"I have always been the “go on an adventure” guy so, after a lot of thinking, I decided to enrol to become a member of the first cohort of the EUMIGS program back in 2018. It turned out that my experience just suited those instincts perfectly, both on the academic and the personal side!
Studies-wise, my first year in Coruña served as a general, big picture approach to what was to come in the second year in Neuchatel: a deeper, more focused study of migration and mobility. I couldn’t pick one of them, as I believe that the two need to coexist in order to provide a proficient insight of migration studies. That, along with the warm reception in Neuchatel, made it fairly easy to me to enjoy that second year abroad!
Not only that, but thanks to the EuMIGS coordinators (Sophie, Ali, Jens, Gianni and company), my colleagues and me had the chance to meet up in Brussels for the first-ever EuMIGS meeting in November 2018, which was an amazing experience as well. We visited some local NGOs working with migrants, had a round table with a representative at the EU Commission and even go for a walk at the stimulating Molenbeek neighbourhood!
But these fun days also served to charge the batteries for the second semester, in which the MA Thesis became my daily companion during several months. Even if sometimes it wasn’t easy to cope, the hard work together with the support of my thesis directors ended up delivering an extremely satisfactory Thesis. Before its defence, the EuMIGS students and coordinators had the chance to meet up again, this time in Malmö to attend the IMISCOE annual conference. This time, the students were invited to attend lectures of migration scholars of the network, which was also enormously inspiring to us all. We even had the opportunity to present a draft of our own MA Thesis and get the feedback of IMISCOE scholars!
To sum up, I believe that the EuMIGS program brought me way more that I expected in the first place: new connections, interests, stories and a bunch of new friends! Without it, I am sure that my path would be completely different nowadays, as this wonderful experience allowed me to aim higher on my professional career, which has just started."