During my exchange study at Epitech, I learned a lot of new things and improved my skills considerably, sometimes in areas I didn’t even expect (like programming in C).
About Miguel
Miguel Laloma Cabrera is 21 years old, and he comes from Madrid, Spain. Miguel is currently a student at CEU San Pablo University, preparing a Degree in Information Systems Engineering, as well as a Degree in Business Administration. In the fall semester of 2022, he decided to follow a semester exchange program in Epitech, which turned out to be a one of the most enriching experiences of his academic pathway, he says. We had the chance to interview him and find out more about his study exchange experience in Epitech. Here below we can find his full testimony:
Why did you choose to study in Epitech?
I knew from the start that I wanted to study in Paris. I had several options of different universities to choose from in the French capital. After doing some research regarding each of these universities, I chose Epitech because I thought is the perfect school for me. Nevertheless, before to apply, I talked with Julia, the Erasmus coordinator and with some teachers in Epitech who gave me more details regarding the teaching methodologies of the school, and I find it very interesting and innovative; so that made me take my final decision and come study to Epitech.
What are the biggest differences between education in your home university and Epitech’ learning methodologies?
The learning methodologies used in Epitech are very different of what I was used to, back in my home university. In Spain we go to lectures, we have exams afterwards and that’s it. Here in Epitech we don’t have teachers, we don’t have lecturers, we manage our time by ourselves, and we need to complete a variety of projects on our own. I’m not yet sure which method is better as they both work. I think it depends more on the person and how they are used to study. What’s for sure is that for autonomous students the Epitech methodology can work very well.
What did you enjoy the most during your study exchange in Epitech?
On a professional level I am very happy because during my exchange I learned lots of new things and I considerably improved my skills, sometimes in areas I didn’t even expect (such as programming in C).
On a personal level, what I enjoyed the most was having the possibility to discover Paris from a local point of view and learn more about the French culture. Also, during my exchange in Epitech I made lots of friends and met new people every week. On top of that, during my free time I had the opportunity to travel to some other European countries, and that was great as well.
What are your favourite things to do in Paris?
What I really loved doing here was going out with my friends in different iconic sights of the city every week, and afterwards we usually went to a bar or the typical French terrasses to have some drinks together. It will sound funny, but we were mixing tourism with relaxation as we had plenty of time to visit all the important monuments of Paris during our stay here (and it’s much better than being a tourist when we have to visit everything in some days; it makes a big difference, and we discover the city and culture more in depth).
If you could give some advice to our future international students who will study in Epitech, what would that be?
My advice for the future international students who will study in Epitech is to get ready for the CPool. It’s not that hard but you have to spend the entire days on the campus to complete a large number of projects. So before starting the pool I suggest you to: buy some food & fill up your fridge, clean your room and do your laundry; because in that period you will not have time to do all that stuff besides the pool.