There’s atmosphere of excitement and anticipation inside KLU on this late summer morning in Hamburg as students from Germany and across the globe gather, introduce themselves, and chat about where they’re from and what they’re studying.

A group about to embark on their bachelor degrees in business administration has just finished a “get to know you” session, and are now heading off for a buffet lunch in the university’s spacious, modern foyer. 

“We played bingo, where we had to go round the room and find someone who had a sister, for example,” explains Sweda Rasaiah, a 19-year-old from Karlsruhe in Germany. “Of course, as well as answering the questions, we were always talking outside of the game. It’s such an international group and so many people and cultures are getting together. It’s a lot of fun and I’m excited to study here, to learn more outside of my own culture and grow as a person.”

“It’s an amazing institution,” enthuses classmate Nqobile Ntuli from Durban in South Africa. The 26-year-old field hockey player, who plays his trade for Hamburg club Harvestehude and has represented his country at the Tokyo Olympics, was granted a KLU sports scholarship to study at the university. “I came for a tour and interview a few months ago, but today meeting all the professors and the students has been amazing. It’s always been an ambition of mine to get to get an education further on in my sporting career, and I’m looking forward to just cracking on.”

Varied Offers throughout welcome Week

Later in the day students will get the chance to get to know their professors better, while the following days’ activities will see them, amongst other things, introduced to KLU’s library services and careers counselling; learn about sports and fitness options at the university; and take part in teambuilding exercises.

Naturally, there is plenty of talk among the students about the academic journeys they’re about to embark on at KLU, and what they’re excited about in particular.

“I’m looking forward to the classes, but also the additional services that are being offered,” says Masters in International Management student Lea Juergens, who’s 23 and from Neheim, a town near Dortmund. “So, with the career training, I think it’s going to be a good opportunity because in the past I struggled a lot with writing applications, getting them to the right people and then wondering how to behave in job interviews.”

James Wood, a 22-year-old native of Seattle, explains he chose to do a masters in global supply chain management – also known as TriCon and which takes place at KLU, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Shanghai’s Tongji University – “because it provides me an opportunity for me to travel to new environments, get to know new people, learn from professors that have so much more experience than I do, and get more help with the world I’ll be doing business in.”

A pleasurable step in advancing students’ familiarity with Hamburg, meanwhile, is the Welcome Week’s traditional Friday evening visit to Groeninger Brauhaus, which lies not far from KLU in the city’s Altstadt (Old City).

We wish all new students of KLU a good start and are looking forward to see everyone on campus!