Studying at the Warsaw University of Technology (Poland)

Motjaritje Honga



I did my primary schooling at Pionierspark Primary School and matriculated from Windhoek High School, and am currently in my first year of my tertiary education, studying information science at the Warsaw University of Technology in Poland.

Why Poland you may ask? Well to be honest it is not somewhere I imagined studying in. To be quite frank, my mother came to me one day out of the blue and asked: “Son, what do you think about studying in Poland?”

At that moment I was taken a back due to the fact that it was not something I ever thought about, let alone looked into it.

My plan was to study computer science at Nust, so when she came to me with this, I obviously had to do some research. It took me a week to come to this life-changing conclusion.

My answer was yes, purely due to the fact that I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone, and oh my, did I achieve that goal!

Hence, the decision was taken and the hustle and bustle of packing and getting ready to embark on this new chapter in life, began. The biggest obstacle I faced was obtaining a national student visa, because Namibia does not have a Polish embassy.

Therefore, I had to travel to Pretoria, South Africa to get my visa but after overcoming that hurdle, everything was plain sailing from there.

The next step was just to book my ticket and to prepare for my travels.

“We have a fear of the unknown, what one does with that fear will make all the difference in the world,” said American actress Lillian Russell.

This was the quote that kept me sane through everything.

I was definitely scared, petrified to say the least but with the support of my friends and family I pulled through. They made me believe in myself and I was hell-bent on making a success of myself out there.

The Warsaw University of Technology one of the best universities in Poland and one of the largest in central Europe.

'Culture shock' a phrase that I have had to face full on, because everything is different, from the food, the weather and the way people greet each other.

It took me about two months to partially adapt to life in Warsaw, and every day proved to be a new experience with different challenges and new learning curves. The university aspect; well that personally for me is something extraordinary. Everything is two-paced, the professors are vastly experienced, the library is amazing, all in all it's a great institution filled with experienced people who are always ready to help.