He is a 23-year-old master student from Turkey. Reha Batuhan Uskun has a degree in psychology and is currently studying his master; interventions in childhood at Jönköping University with a scholarship. Besides starting a new chapter of his life, moving to Sweden, Batuhan is also starting his very first business; SwedenAbroad. An education consulting agency for new students from Turkey.
Even before moving to Sweden Batuhan had thoughts of starting a consulting agency. He noticed that not a lot of students in Turkey knew about the good opportunities that come with the Swedish education system , so he started thinking of ways to reach and encourage more people to study in Sweden.
Batuhan explains that because Turkey is not a part of the EU, the application process is a bit different from students coming from countries in the EU. For example, students from Turkey have to get motivation letters and references from their schools and teachers, and overall it’s a challenge for them to get admission to study in a foreign country. It’s a complicated process that raises a need for assistance that Batuhans hopes to provide with his business.
He has already established a website, social media, and logotype. After a quite challenging process of finding the right contact person, Batuhan got the opportunity to pitch his idea for Science Park. Because there is already an existing company that provides assistance for students from Turkey, it was firstly not clear if it would be okay to start the business. However yesterday he got the exciting news from Science Park that he’s good to move forward with SwedenAbroad.
“Honestly it’s exciting, starting a business while studying at the same time” Batuhan says.
Batuhan will be the digital ambassador for SwedenAbroad. The company will help students with their application for bachelors or masters, to find suitable scholarships, resident permits, dormitories, and more. Batuhan thinks it´s an advantage that he’ll also be able to assist students face-to-face if needed.
As for the future, Batuhan is planning to extend his studies at JU depending on how the company develops.
“I set short and long term goals, my expectation for the first year is to reach at least ten people and support their applications, then to cooperate with other universities and finally open an office”.
