“A great way to make friends”

Yuija Zhang from China and Anne Mette Wichmann Nielsen are part of a mentor group at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen

“You build up intimacy and get a community of people around you within the QA Programme,” Yuija says.

Chinese Yuija Zhang is doing her master in Media and Film Studies at the University of Copenhagen. She is also part of a mentor group with two mentors and eight mentees.

“In the QA programme you really meet some nice people, and it is a great way to make friends.”

“Some of the mentees are more active than others. We have so much fun, because we seem to click,” mentor Anne Mette Wichmann Nielsen says. She is studying English and wanted to practice speaking English and meet new people, so she became a mentor.

“You learn about other cultures, and the mentors also build up a relationship to each other,” Anne Mette says.

The group meets up once or twice a month, grab a drink and chat.

“It is like chatting with old friends,” Yuija says.

Often it can be daunting to move to a different country, but with the QA Programme you get to know the locals, and they can often help, if you have a problem or you are in some sort of trouble, Yuija feels.

“They have also been helpful, when I was looking for an internship,” she says.

Yuija has volunteered to be a mentor herself next year.

“It has surprise me how well we all get along, and how nice it is to hang out in our group,” Anne Mette says.

Yuija agrees.

“It is not like a professional relationship, in which one helps the other. It is more about helping a friend. It is a bit like magic,” she says.