Parsa Motamedi - Bachelor Student From Iran

Meet Parsa Motamedi. He lived in Dubai & Barcelona, studied Music at Berklee and moved to Germany after. You can read his study in Germany success story here.

Chapter 1: Dubai

Place of Birth	Tehran, Iran
Nationality	Iranian
Where did you live?	Dubai (UAE), Barcelona (Spain)
Education Level Prior to Relocation	International Baccalaureate (IB)
Reason for moving to Germany	Bachelor Program
When did you move?	2017
How old were you?	20
Are you still in Germany?	Yes
What is your current occupation?	2nd Year Bachelor Student
What is your future goal?	Salesforce Administrator Licence, Start-Up Projects
Would you like to stay in Germany?	Yes

I was born in Tehran, Iran. We moved to the United Arab Emirates when I was 4 or 5. My father wanted me and my sister to grow up in a safer environment. He believed we would have a better future there. When we moved to Dubai, the real estate industry was booming, the value was going up and due to the nature of my father's business, we could afford a good life there. Moreover, English was and is widely spoken - I felt very comfortable enunciating myself.

I finished my High School (International Baccalaureate (IB) at Dubai American Academy). I studied French all my life as a third language, but I haven't really learnt. Surprisingly to my family, my teachers and myself, during my 11th and 12th grades I chose Spanish as my 2nd language. A spontaneous decision would help me in the future (now I know that, but back then, I couldn't anticipate).

Computers were always a big part of my life. I taught myself basic HTML and coding. Outside of school, I made websites for people. I remember we had a web HTML class for beginners and I already knew everything – that made me very happy. Since then, I can basically do anything technical. I can learn it and I can do it. I do websites on Wordpress and other platforms, coding, user interface programming, automation.

Otherwise, I wasn't very active during my school time, as I mostly wasted my time. Like many people of my age do.

In High School, I began music production and I chose Hip Hop and Electronic as my dominating genres. I like other music as well. As an example, now I can listen for hours to Avishai Cohen.

When I was in grade 12 and we were choosing universities, I decided to pursue music for my Undergraduate studies. I applied to one and only Musical School - Berklee College of Music in Boston (USA) and to my surprise, I got in!

I could choose Israel, Greece or Spain for the Junior Year. It was without a question of which country I chose. Conveniently, I studied Spanish for 2 years. I hesitated between choosing music or computer science, but I chose Music and Barcelona and it was the time of my life.

Chapter 2: Barcelona

I would have been studying audio production/audio engineering. I could have had the jobs not in the artistic field, but rather in the technical field. I could have worked at companies that host concerts, radio stations or in the movie industry…

… but the cost of studies was very high (40.000-50.000 $ per year).

I had a conversation with my father. He was always very supportive, but he couldn't shake off his conservative nature, so he was kind of saying: "I let you do what you want to do. But if you do it, I must sell a house, so think about it twice".

I didn't finish my music career.

I looked for alternatives and I found them. I started working to help my father at one of the companies and continued doing music myself. It didn't take long that business caught my attention. Not only have I switched my major from Music to Business Studies, but I also changed my country from Spain to Germany.

It was like an awakening moment: Barcelona is great, I thought, but it's too much fun, it really is. You just want to go out and spend time outside. I mentioned to my father, that I want to study in Germany, and he said: "I like Germany, move to Munich! It is the best place for you."

Chapter 3: Munich

Initially, when I came to Germany it was horrible. On the surface, I can tell you that it was horrible because I didn't have friends. Every day was like a repetitive cycle, my room in the dorm was small, I kept finding problems and excuses.

A year and six months passed. I can't complain about my life at all any longer. Funny, but these problems don't bother me now. In fact, it only gets better and better every day.

Late last year I found a great group of Iranian friends - and that turned everything around. The majority of my friends are foreigners. I have one German friend; his name is Edward. Yes, I might not have a big budget to get a big apartment or a car yet, but my life is great: my friends, my school.

I started taking advantage of the opportunities presented in the location. I will finish my Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in one year. What will I do after I graduate? I would start a company. I am very interested in Salesforce.

I am working with a startup now setting up Salesforce for them and I'm searching for a Salesforce Administrator course to get myself certified. I will learn this platform first and then my goal is to surpass that, because this is the product to learn. But that's not what I plan to do all my life.

I haven’t forgotten about my passion - music. I am not just passively listening to music: I care for it. It is important for me to treat it according to my history and my memories. I realized that one day I could connect technical, business and musical aspects together, I just need to learn and to find the know-how. I have many ideas on my mind. There is one related to business and one related to music. These are projects that I want to set up myself.

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In terms of business, I want to build my own Salesforce platform. Prospective customers would license the product for their CRM.

In terms of music, I want to build a program, which selects songs for you automatically by gathering data from your personal indicators.

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The business idea is simple: there are certain tunes and rhythmic patterns that you want to hear according to your mood. If we talk about Spotify or platforms alike, you have to select the mood and you have your own bias that comes out.

Remove that and make it fully transparent! Imagine, there would be a program that knows exactly what you are willing to hear. So instead of playing the song with physical action, the stream starts itself and since it is connected to you it would know what you want to hear.

This is what makes my heart beat at the moment and I will be working hard to bring this project to life.

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Give Berlin A Chance - Here Is Why! A Story Of Kush

“I am always fascinated by people of all kinds of professional, educational, and lifestyle backgrounds. You might be surprised how much you can share in common with other people if you can communicate well.”

Read the diary of Kush living in Berlin here!

Chapter 1: About Me

“Some people might feel a sense of security in a foreign country when they are around the people who speak the same language as their own or share something else in common.

We are all different, and we are not always perfectly aware of what we are doing. It is easy to fall into your comfort zone and revert to what is familiar. In a foreign environment, embrace the new as much you can, and you won't regret it.

I would encourage young students to challenge their beliefs and develop people skills. You don't know what you are missing out on if you form cliques at school and hang out with the same people all the time. As a student, I had no desire to stick to what my classmates were planning to do after classes.

One time I even just decided to show up in a social gathering at Technical University (where I was not studying, of course) all alone and had a great conversation with an ESA scientist; I came from a business background, but I learned something new. There is no perfect way to develop people skills, but you can start by opening up to new ideas. 

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People keep asking me why I travel alone, but this is just the way I am. You either get it or you don’t.

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When I was 18 years old, I realized I am more of a free person if I just do what I want to. Before making my first ever solo trip, I was thinking about all kinds of what-ifs. I had the time and the budget then, but no one wanted to join me.

It just took that one solo trip during my student years, and I have never looked back since. I travel solo more often and meet backpackers and adventurous souls you would not usually meet. I have the freedom to wake up at any time or even make a spontaneous plan to go somewhere with someone I just met and have a great time.

It is incredible when you hear stories from people who have been traveling on a gap year, a sabbatical, or for more than a year at a time. I once even met a Frenchman who had been traveling and hitchhiking for 15 years on a limited budget. What a confidence booster is it to travel alone!

It is not selfish to think more about yourself and taking yourself on a solo travel journey.

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It is also ok to break free of wherever you come from for some of your life. Trust me, people who love you will stay anyway. 

As you grow older you may realize that the kind of people you attract and maintain friendships with would largely depend on your personal values. And the years as a student are a great time to rediscover yourself.

Chapter 2: What about COVID-19?

The German people and the government are going all in to curb the outbreak and save the economy:

• I admire how people are showing tremendous discipline and resilience in these hard times.

• I read an article on the local.de that Germany is the ‘second safest country in the world’ during coronavirus according to multiple sources.

• The Germans are positive that they are managing this crisis well. As far as the global economy is concerned, it won’t be long until things will turn around and become good as soon as the health-crisis comes under control.

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I can empathize with people who are feeling overwhelmed right now. I know some people personally who are overwhelmed by how this sudden shift has blurred the lines between their personal life and a professional one at the same time; this is especially true for people who are working from home and have children to take care of.

People are worried about all kinds of different aspects of their life getting disrupted. I have friends who are musicians and artists whose events and performances got canceled due to the ban on gatherings. I also know people who work in hospitality and tourism.

Despite a series of unfortunate events lately,

you are not alone in this.

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Times like these challenge people to create a blueprint for a better future for themselves and for others. We can all come out stronger and better versions of ourselves if we put some work into it and give up on what is already not in our control.

It is important to count your blessings. Look at it this way, the western hemisphere is free of conventional warfare, and entire cities have been rebuilt because people put work into making it happen. Things require effort and cooperation. Berlin, for example, has risen from the ashes.

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There is always a way to grow out of any crisis, and it can be done by acquiring new knowledge.

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One can pick up a book and read it. You can also sign-up for a new online course and gain digital skills that are in demand. We can already see a swift transition into a more digital economy, and professionals in pretty much all industries will have to adapt to stay competitive.

Advanced technologies are already changing how we communicate, receive, and secure information. For example, AI algorithms can now diagnose patients with depression and prescribe the best-suited anti-depressant in their case. You can now codify legal prose that can lower your chances of getting into a dispute because codifying can lower chances of misinterpretation of terminologies. There are many other impressive use cases.

Just over a decade ago, a lot of us probably didn’t even have a smartphone, and we now realize how much our day to day life and communication depends on it. 

If you are someone with extra free time, you can learn to be more mindful, exercise at home, or go outside for a run if the lockdown measures allow you to.

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Social distancing can be a great time for self-reflection.

It depends on how you look at it.

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A few years ago, I participated in a mindfulness meditation retreat course in the Indian Himalayas in the Dalai Lama’s residence town - Dharamsala. Practicing guided meditation has really helped me deal with a rush of thoughts and center myself.

I was inspired by talks of Dan Harris and Sam Harris to make this a part of my lifestyle. The retreat was a unique educational opportunity. We were people from all corners of the world, from varying age groups, different professional backgrounds, some of us even carrying emotional baggage and traveling the world for various reasons, but united in one place by the same idea.

And as strange as it may sound, a Japanese traveler who I had met almost two years before in New York at an arcade bar one evening was there for the introduction course. It was so unexpected to meet her in a completely different environment.

The idea was to improve our nature and grow into a more peaceful person. We stayed together in silence in a shared dorm for a program that lasts ten days, and you get no access to electronic gadgets during the time. I did three of those programs. I know that change doesn't come that quickly, but mindfulness does shift your energy, and you can continue to practice.

Chapter 3: Master Thesis - how to write it?

The thesis degree requirement for me specified that a Master level thesis needs to be more analytical than a bachelor level thesis (without specifying any concrete examples of how per se).

I was not required to write a thesis as a part of my bachelor’s degree program, so this was a new challenge. I realized that I like reading about new technologies and so why not start from there.

1. I took some hints from the theoretical knowledge I gained during my Master's and sent a proposal to one of my professors in Rome.

2. The professor connected me to other Masters and Ph.D. Erasmus students and business professionals who were all working on similar projects.

3. We all joined virtually through a video call to discuss what we want to contribute.

4. I ended up with a peer-reviewed case study about a smart contract solution deployed on a blockchain architecture.

5. At the start, I didn't have all the answers as the case studies were all written by developers in a very technical language. What I did have was course materials about contractual management from my Master's program and work experience in RegTech in New York.

6. So, I spent the first couple of months just familiarizing myself with technical terminology to gain a background of the problem that Smart Contracts solve.

7. The gap I filled was examining how that specific case from the study can be made legally compliant in the face of new regulations and policies. I also discussed new methods and solutions that can alleviate the security concerns of users and protect against malicious attackers.

8. Along the way, I found new technical solutions and structured the whole concept into something new that can improve workflows. It was all about connecting the dots, and it was a great feeling to have your work appreciated and valued by others. 

9. A friend who owns a startup in San Francisco visited Berlin to talk about blockchain on his first-ever Europe tour. At his event, I gained some new insights on how I can add value to my thesis topic by talking to some people and gaining access to resources. There are so many things happening here in Berlin.

10. I required minimal support from my professor while working on the thesis. I spent a great deal of my time writing my thesis from public university libraries like at Frei University and TU Berlin. This was a really enjoyable experience for me. During breaks in the library, I would make a travel itinerary for my next trip and go for a beer at the end of the day. Things like that kept me level-headed while working on the thesis. 

11. I became totally immersed in this topic last summer, and eventually, this led to crafting a well-written thesis and defending the topic successfully at La Sapienza in Rome. It was really satisfying to finish strong.

Chapter 4: How Berlin and you can contribute to each other’s success?

• As a student, the quality of life in Berlin is good. In comparison to other places I have lived, worked, and studied - in India, Southern Germany, the United States, and Italy.

• Berlin offers a thriving startup ecosystem, and it is great to meet innovators, who are essentially creating new markets.

• I have had the opportunity to meet some forward-thinking people from New York, Tel Aviv, London, San Francisco, Boston, you name it. In startup communities, people are generally willing to help each other with finding connections.

• There is an abundance of knowledge, so don’t just limit yourself to what goes inside a classroom, achieving certain grades, or sticking to a course structure.

• Learn to be versatile. At work, anyone can master routine tasks as time goes by. But it is especially stimulating to manage tasks in a dynamic environment that requires working on new problems and tasks on a regular basis.

• I personally think that to develop your entrepreneurial thinking ability, you should spend time working closely with other entrepreneurs who are getting things done.

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I find Berlin as an incredibly dynamic city.

Berlin has seen a lot. 

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As a student in Berlin, I had been living near the Schlactensee lake, which offers a rich natural landscape around the lake area. I like the local culture of swimming in the waters, relaxing and drinking beer by the lake during the summer months.

• I am a big fan of food and beers. I like Nürnberger bratwursts, schnitzel, and currywurst, and my favorite beverages include Club Mate, Fritz Cola, Berliner Luft, and Berliner Kindel.

• The beers are relatively cheaper compared to other metropolitan cities outside of Germany. An average meal in a restaurant can cost around €15, which is fair, I think.

• What you may find odd about how supermarkets here are managed is that the cashier tries to serve people fast, and you have to pack your groceries quickly. 

• Berlin is a model of tolerance and celebrates people and their individuality. There are no societal norms as such, and people are free to express themselves.

  • For example, Berliners proudly celebrate the LGBT community

  • The city became the first in the world to declare Frauentag on March 8th as a public holiday. 

The best thing about Berlin is how well it is connected to the rest of Europe with its domestic airports and the city itself is located in the heart of Europe which is an added value.

It is so easy to live here. It is easy to travel from here.” - Kush.

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Jose G. - MBA Student From Mexico

“If things work in Germany, why can’t they work in my country? I did my MBA in Germany to apply all the knowledge in my Start-Up in Mexico City.” Read Jose’s success story here!

Place of Birth	Veracruz, Mexico
Nationality	Mexican
Where did you live?	Xalapa, Mexico City (Mexico), Munich (Germany)
Education Level Prior to Relocation	Bachelor Degree
Reason of moving to Germany	MBA Degree
When did you move?	2013
How old were you?	25
Are you still in Germany?	No
What is your future goal?	Own Business Development
Where would you like to live further?	Mexico City 100%

Chapter 1: Study Abroad Experience

I studied in a college in Guadalajara and failed the first semester. As a punishment, my father assigned me as a construction worker for 6 months. This is how I developed a love for the construction industry. It is a sort of family business.

He asked if I wanted to continue working or I wanted to study afterward?!

I chose to study after this nice punishment. And I decided to study abroad.

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I had my reasons for this:

1. I wanted to prove myself that I was able to be a good student. I wasn’t a good student before. That was the first step

2. I wanted to do an MBA. I had a Bachelor degree already with construction supervision work experience and I wanted to focus on business

3. One of my cousins was studying in Italy and he was bragging about how amazing the stories in Europe are and how great that experience was. I saw him mature from this study abroad experience

4. One of my friends offered me to go abroad and study there together. So I said OK. Let’s do it. Let’s go to study abroad.

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My friend sent me all the information and ironically, in the end, he didn’t go (isn’t it funny?) and I went all in and I only had to choose between Dubai, Europe or Asia.

The most difficult was to choose because I was accepted in all 3 locations. I didn’t want the USA or Canada because I wanted to experience a new culture &new everything!

My plan was:

• To prove myself I can study

• To travel a lot

• To come back and work in the construction industry in Mexico

My cousin told me Europe has open borders and I could travel within 3 countries in 1 day by train, so that sort of sealed the deal.

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I have decided – I will go to Germany. I will go to Munich – I will go for the FC Bayern Football team.

A real mature decision isn’t it?

In the end, it was the best decision of my life

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Chapter 2: Germany & Mexico

I didn’t realize that I was moving abroad until I went out of the metro station and I saw the German architecture WHAT THE HELL HOW BEAUTIFUL.

I realized I was making a big change in my life only then. The language is cool, so different from Spanish, people – you can learn so much from them and their life because they are tough and they demand things. They have a structure in what they do. You can learn from people even if you don’t study there. The culture there is something you admire: the surroundings, the logistics, the punctuality.

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Something that I loved there and we don’t have here in Mexico is the quality of 9 am – 5 pm life – the work-life balance.

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That is so admirable. Security and amount of holidays as well as job security and employee protection. I had fun but I could also concentrate on studies.

I took full advantage of travelling in Europe during my degree, I travelled to experience culture and lifestyle. I did a beer tasting trip around Europe as well 😊 My favourite would be Bratislava and Munich and… Oktoberfest of all festivities!

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I met great friends in my MBA class

Moose is my big bro (USA/Egypt)

Javier is awesome (Colombia)

Paula (Andorra)

Yerkin (Kazakhstan)

We were a family, it was cool!

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I studied for 1 year in Germany and wrote my thesis about crowdfunding applied in Latin America.

I wanted to start a business in crowdfunding and do research and write my MBA E-Business Thesis about it and practical implications and building the company.

I did not take a professor as a promoter and it was a mistake!

I didn’t prioritize it at all. I just wanted to finish with thesis very fast and my big priority was my business…

…now thinking in retrospective I should have asked professors more I could have learnt more from them instead of thinking I knew everything on my own.

Take advantage of the professors while you can and ask as many questions as you can.

I had ideas and so many things are missing in Mexico City, that’s what I wanted to do. I started to put down ideas to do something good for my country.

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If things are working right there, why can’t I do it in Mexico?!

I wanted to do something for my country.

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When I finished my degree I left right away. I never regretted choosing Germany.

I still travel once a year back to Europe, my second home, mi amor! I am not a big planer, so I decide, as any Mexicans do, on the plane! Jajajajajajajaja I go when and if it feels like it’s the time to go. I wish I could make it next year and be back there for Oktoberfest.

I studied well in Germany, well, enough! MBA in Germany brought me the value and I definitely grew up. I cannot say how, but all my friends, my family said somehow I came back a different person.

I felt better than I had been before. A different perspective, rich experiences.

For me, when I came back, it is like someone put the pause button from the moment I left. Everything was the same, but I wanted more. I saw my friends – they stayed in the same status quo and I, on the contrary, was hungry for new knowledge and experience. All that happened after the MBA.

Chapter 3: CEO & Start-Up

When I came back from Germany I did not want to work in construction anymore. I came back not fully knowing what I would do but from one day to another I tried different business ideas and I found my niche.

I right away moved from Xalapa to Mexico City to make money! I didn’t know the people though, so I started building networks and connections.

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You don’t need investments to start a company,

you need a good team.

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I went to networking events to get to know programmers & developers. I talked to companies and asked for references, I started building the pool of contacts.

• First I joined a company in Mexico City and achieved a high position.

• I worked for 1.5 years there then quit to start my company.

• I returned because I was asked to become the CEO and since I know that my company would take a long time to start up I agreed on the condition I would only work 2 days a week.

I have a fixed income that is good and time to dedicate to my startup.

I was a co-founder of real estate crowdfunding. What we did there we put investments of regular people like 500 USD and we built a digital platform where they could invest. We are the top 3 in Mexico Nation!

Right now we are funding more than the industry itself. This allowed me to understand issues and to meet the relevant people in the industry. I know the industry from inside out. That’s why I know the whole picture and can sell my product for them.

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Oh, by the way, I meet all the time the people who think my Start-Up won’t work out.

But I don’t listen. Because if you have a good idea, the only one who can tell you something is wrong is your customer.

If you have an idea, you have to test it. You only know if it doesn’t work if you tested it 20-50 times with your customer. You have to put the product to the customer, face the need with them and then solve the problem for them. Start-Up actually doesn’t start with an idea, it starts with a problem that a customer would want you to solve. That’s it.

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I returned in 2015 so now 5 years after I am not successful yet but it is getting there. I know my way, I’m happy, it will work. This is one of the qualities of entrepreneurs: never hesitate in your ideas, be open to challenges and wisdom from abroad and understand how to apply it in your goal!

I have my first partner in the company now. He is German actually. I was searching for investors and co-founders so I found this guy and oh my God! He is awesome!!! A 35-year-old doctor of astrophysics genius.

In order to be a very effective team you need to have diversity – it is the key. We are totally opposite in our thinking, that is how I build my team now.

About My Company

We found out that there is a big problem for real estate constructors because only 20% of small to medium size constructors have access to financing.

The onboarding process is a nightmare, it can take you 6 months to get pre-approval. Banks don’t rely on the data provided directly from the constructor because it could be false. And here we are!

In our company, we:

• Develop the projects for financial institutions that give credits for real estate developers

• Build the software where we can get reliable data from outside altogether

• Analyze solvency of the user or the company

• Check if the project is well based on data

• Optimize the portfolio of financial institutions based on machine learning

• Work with 200 different bank products

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With one click we do a 3 month job. This could be a slogan 😊

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What is the challenge of my business? A whole bunch of them. Right now is a cultural aspect of “I do things like this for 20 years and I don’t want to use technology” – conservative approach.

Once we prove that we can add value, customers will stay with us for life. That’s why I do demos, that’s why I go one to one to real estate developers to show the numbers.

Working for yourself is difficult. It is challenging to have your own agenda priorities and to push yourself. It is not easy to start your own business and think everyday life would be the same.

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But hey! Learn to solve problems after they happen.

Never stress yourself in advance there is no need for it.

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I would like to recommend some great books for prospective students. I read a lot, I don’t know if is needed for success I just do it because it gives me understanding! Here you go:

• Algorithms To Live By

• The Wisdom Of The Crowds

• A Start-Up Nation

Study Abroad - Success Stories

Read Success Stories of foreigners who study abroad. We have a bunch of questions - international students have a lot to tell. Russian, Turkish, Iranian, Indian, Mexican…

---

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