The Faculty of Economics and Administration of Masaryk University has been cooperating with the Université de Rennes on a unique inter-university public administration study programme for 25 years, but the programme has so far been taught only in French and Czech. Last year, however, both universities opened a French-English version of the Public Administration (Administration Publique) programme, and Jean-Marc was the first student to enrol in it.
“I came to Brno thanks to my teacher from Rennes, who has been teaching in the double degree programme for many years. I mentioned to her that I would like to go abroad to do a master's degree, and she immediately suggested that I try Masaryk University, because they were just opening a new joint degree programme. So, I carefully studied the content of the studies and asked some friends from the Czech Republic, and they recommended MU and Brno. They said I would not regret it. So, I thought I'd give it a try. I was tempted to have two diplomas and live in the middle of Europe,” says the French student.
But his beginnings at Masaryk University were not easy. He was the only international student in a highly specialized study programme, so he began to make friends with students from the Czech programme as well as with international classmates he met in English-taught courses. He also started helping out with French classes at the Faculty of Education and met many other classmates in an inter-university online course offered by the EDUC Alliance, at the end of which French and Hungarian students came to Brno unplanned to meet classmates they had been meeting online all semester.
“I started to like Brno very much, and when I began my internship at the External Relations Department of the South Moravian Region in the spring semester, I was even more enthusiastic. I was very attracted to these intercultural experiences. We organized visits of international delegations, participated in significant events like the URBIS Smart City Fair, and I also saw up close how public administration works in the Czech Republic. I am considering working in the French public sector or directly in the European Union now that I have discovered a new aspect of the EU through studying abroad, so the opportunity to see the differences in local government was very valuable.”
In addition to his internship, he also volunteered to organize the Brno Expat Fair for foreigners, which attracted over 1,800 participants. According to him, the event was one of the biggest highlights of his stay in Brno. He has completed two semesters of study in Brno and in September started his third semester in Rennes, where he will also do a mandatory internship at the US Consulate. He will follow that up with his thesis in his last semester.
Afterwards, he plans to return to Brno in June for the final state exams. He says he already misses the Czech Republic and Brno, with its perfect size, great bars and restaurants, and enviable public transport, including night buses. He also misses Czech food, including fried cheese and sandwiches, and Czech beer, and he already has a list of places he hasn’t yet managed to visit in the Czech Republic.
“Brno has really grown close to my heart, and I could imagine moving there by overcoming the language barrier. In addition to the inter-university Public Administration programme, I am also studying a second master's programme in European governance completely online. I'm also quite attracted to a career in diplomacy, and with the combination with another master’s programme, Public Policy at MU, and the internships I've completed, I believe it's a good start. Let's see where I end up,” says Jean-Marc, laughing.
