01.04.2010
"The programme in Aalen really broadens your horizons."
“The course is ideal for people who are prepared to study intensely." (© Baden-Württemberg International)
It was the German tax reform of 2008, of all things, that gave Mukolo Mujanga from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa the impulse for his Master thesis in international business. He had already focused on finance as part of his Master’s programme at Aalen University.
His main area of interest for his final thesis was the issue of transfer pricing, the internal calculation of services and products within a globally acting company. “Production lines or departments of international companies are often transferred to another country. A realistic calculation of prices and values is extremely complicated. Companies need assistance making such decisions. Aalen prepares its students ideally to become consultants in fields such as this."
During his internship with a big business consultancy company, Mukolo Mujanga will have an opportunity to experience everyday business life before finishing his studies. But best of all, his contract for a real job is ready to be signed.
“I really can recommend the programme in Aalen. It broadens your horizons and offers a lot more than just business skills. In Baden-Württemberg everything is done very thoroughly” in 31-year-old Mukolo’s experience, which is very much to his liking. “The course is ideal for people who are prepared to study intensely, who want very close contact with professors and who want to work with other students in small groups. Despite the course picking up speed very quickly, you feel at home here in Aalen after just two semesters and the pressure lets off.”
Thanks to the university’s integration efforts, it is easy for international and German students to establish social contacts. For Mukolo, who has been in Germany for some years now and speaks German fluently, integration hasn’t been a problem at all. But still, “one has to have experienced all four seasons to understand why peoples’ faces in Aalen are sometimes grey and sometimes full of sun. As soon as it gets warm outside people become more friendly and open minded,” he has noticed. Sometimes it even seems to him as if people go a little bit crazy when the sun comes out…
What are his plans after his stay in Baden-Württemberg? “Right now I’m on my way to getting some work experience. This will take a few more years. To see no boundaries or limits and to have a broad perspective is very important to me. But going home to Congo some day and helping the republic to be a successful democratic state – this would certainly give meaning and importance to my life,” Mukolo believes. Aalen University will have contributed a good deal when this vision of Mukolo Mujanga becomes reality.
