Paula discovers her second home Pamplona

Paula is 23 years old and is studying for a Bachelor's degree in International Business Studies. From January to June 2025, she spent a semester as a freemover at the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. Despite minor organisational teething troubles, her stay abroad was an all-round positive experience that she can only recommend to other students.

Tracing her family roots

Paula's decision to spend her semester abroad in Pamplona was no accident. The Paderborn student was born there and moved to Germany with her family at the age of three. Although she has no memories of those early years in Spain, the city plays an important role in her life. "My mum is from Pamplona and a large part of my family lives there. For me, the city is therefore my second home. We travel there about four times a year to visit my family, but I have long wanted to live in Pamplona for a longer period of time," she says.

Pamplona has been a twin city of Paderborn since 1992 and is home to the Public University of Navarra, a partner university of Paderborn University. However, Paula made a conscious decision in favour of the private Universidad de Navarra (UNAV): "My mother attended the same university back then. In addition to the very good reputation, it was also my family that drove me to go to the private university in Pamplona as a freemover."

Studying in Pamplona: between challenges and opportunities

Paula first had to get used to studying in Pamplona: "UNAV is very different from UPB. Oral participation is very important there and usually accounts for up to 30% of the final grade. The professors are also much stricter in some cases. For example, I had several courses in which we weren't allowed to use any electronic devices - you had to write everything down with pen and paper."

Paula quickly took a liking to the wide range of extracurricular activities on offer: she joined the student running club right at the start and started dancing at the university sports centre. "The initiatives at the Universidad de Navarra gave me the perfect opportunity to socialise with other people and make friends," she says happily. Together with the other exchange students, she also took part in several excursions to places of interest in the Navarra region, went on trips to other Spanish cities such as Salamanca or Valencia and visited neighbouring cities in France.

Of international friendships and pintxos

Paula made many international friends during her stay: "The Universidad de Navarra offers excellent international networking. I was able to meet lots of great new people from different countries. In my group of friends from the semester abroad, hardly any two people come from the same country. I find it super exciting to get to know so many different cultures."

Paula's favourite thing to do with her new friends was to explore the region. Navarre is very diverse in terms of landscape and culture: there is a well-known desert area, numerous castles and gorges as well as forests and spring landscapes. One of Paula's favourite places is San Sebastián, a town in the Basque Country, right on the beach and only an hour away from Pamplona - perfect for switching off and relaxing.

But Pamplona itself also has a lot to offer: "There's always something going on in Pamplona! People meet on the streets to eat, talk and celebrate together. It's simply a completely different way of life. My favourite tradition in Pamplona is the so-called "juevintxo", a combination of the Spanish word "jueves" (Thursday) and "pintxo", the Basque word for tapas: every Thursday, students gather outside the bars to drink together and eat pintxos, i.e. small meals similar to tapas. In some bars, the pintxos are even free," Paula reports enthusiastically.

Paula's conclusion: an unforgettable experience

If Paula were to grade her semester abroad, she would give it a straight A: "I had a few minor teething problems with the organisation, but the positive experiences far outweigh the negatives. I grew a lot during my time in Pamplona. I had to learn to deal with problems and challenges on my own and learned to organise myself better. The international exchange showed me how important it is to be open to other perspectives and to think outside the box," explains the IBS student.

Paula advises other students who also want to go abroad to get information as early as possible: "If you want to go abroad as a freemover, you should start planning at least a year in advance. I personally had the biggest problems with course recognition, but that also worked out well in the end. Apart from that: be open to new things! A semester abroad is an opportunity to grow personally, gain new perspectives and make unforgettable memories."

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