Edouard Koutsava: “Study to convey”

28 november 2017

Edouard Koutsava has been a student at Domuni Universitas for 5 years and is now in Master 1 Religious Studies. On our Moodle platform, he found the best way to Social Sciences and Humanities studies, while working as an educator.

“I always loved being eager for knowledge!” says Edouard, 40 years-old. He is animator in School Pastoral at the Montalembert de Courbevoie High School.
Since 2012, this French and Togolese young man found a way to make the most of his daily 3 hours of public transport, with Theology. “I wanted to study while working”. And he is even preaching for the University: Edouard says that his courses catch the attention of people in the subway or the train. “People glance at it, find it interesting and at times, it ends up in debates! I advertise Domuni!”

“So happy to resume Philosophy!”

“I have a classic rhythm: I try to pass one academic year every year” says Edouard. Every evening, like his High School students, he “does his assignments”, read his courses and learn them by heart. “I sent my assignments to my email address to update them everywhere: during a break at work, during my travels, …”. “For example, a few months ago, I was in Taizé and the internet coverage was not very good. I could not use my laptop, but I was on my phone and I could interact on e-seminaries forums, or read the courses I had saved!”. Resuming Philosophy, this compulsory topic in Theology Bachelor 1, captivated him: “I thought I was done with it after High School, but as I was going deeper in the subject, I realised that it was a true pleasure for me to study it. From the very beginning in Bachelor 1, it had been great to discover how to deepen the reading of texts!”.

In order to avoid spending too much time on screens, our theologian apprentice prints and binds his courses, creating a little study library: already an entire Bachelor, and now the Master 1.

Edouard usually spends between 1 and 2 hours studying his courses every evening, but it depends on his good shape and motivation. “If I do not understand what I am reading anymore, I just stop and move on. I postpone it until the next day!”. The great advantage of the online University is that there is not rush, everything can wait. Bachelors, and well as Masters, can be passed in one, two, three or four years, without extra fees. Besides, when Edouard moved temporarily in Belfort for a more intense job more, he passed in Bachelor 3 in two years, and got back to his classic rhythm when he went back home.

“I feel like a regular High School student”

Last week, Edouard spent more or less 5 evenings working on his assignment for the “Economy Ethics” course. It is not always easy to stick to the pages’ limit required by the University, but as he also gives requirements to his students, he has to follow the rule too. When he feels ready for his exam at the end of the semester, he contacts Domuni to set up the exam: a place to take the test, where he is isolated and supervised.  « Whenever I hand my semester’s last exam, I can settle the day of the test. This is where it meets the traditional method: everything is the same, there is no longer a thing to envy of the classical way”, says Edouard.

“Study to convey”

“I share everything I discovered at Domuni with my students. This is precisely what I wanted: getting trained to bring my contribution to the education field!”, says Edouard, who gives us more details about why he wanted to dive in Theology: “The Church taught me a lot, but with this Bachelor, I have the feeling that I looked deeper into the “whys”. Christ came to save us… All right… But why did he have to save us?” “Domuni gave me answers to things questioned by people or students. It made me discover my own faith.”