What if a decision made today could lastingly transform a career path, a way of thinking and your ambitions? Noé, a 5th-year ISARA engineering student, experienced that turning point by spending six months in Curitiba, Brazil, on a study exchange at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná.
Total immersion, new bearings, accelerated learning. Over there, he developed far more than academic skills: self-confidence, international openness, and the ability to work in complex, multicultural environments.
Through his testimony, Noé explains how this experience acted as a true revealer, and why an international exchange can become one of the most defining choices of your student and professional life.
“These past six months, I lived an incredible experience on the other side of the Atlantic, in Curitiba, Brazil, on a university exchange at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná. An adventure as intense academically as it was personally.
On the academic side, I took courses in food science and business, with a teaching approach strongly focused on group work. Projects were carried out in English, with international students from all over the world. Working in such a multicultural environment pushes you out of your comfort zone, makes you challenge your ideas and rethink your vision of the agrifood sector from a completely new angle.
But an exchange in Brazil is not just about classes. It is also about discovering a warm culture, a lively campus life and unforgettable encounters. Between late-night conversations, student events and trips, every day brought its share of memories and special moments shared with students from all four corners of the globe.
This experience is fully part of the ISARA and emlyon business school dual-degree track. This program allows engineering students to develop a genuine threefold skill set. On one side, a solid technical and scientific foundation through the ISARA engineering degree. On another, innovation skills geared towards creating new projects and activities. And finally, a strong business dimension from the emlyon business school Grande École curriculum.
This dual degree thus combines the scientific rigour of engineering training with a strong managerial and entrepreneurial culture. It opens the way to a wide range of careers, from leading innovative projects to starting a business, as well as strategic management in the agricultural and agrifood sectors.
Alongside my exchange in Brazil, I also followed an e-learning program that gave me solid foundations in finance, marketing, strategy and human resources. A real asset to complement what I learned abroad and prepare the next steps of my journey.
Next step: emlyon business school and the Innov’Action semester. The goal is clear: keep building a professional project that reflects who I am, develop my skills and further strengthen this international dimension that has become essential to me. If you are still hesitating about going abroad or starting a dual-degree track, one thing is certain: these experiences transform far more than a CV.”
