It has been one year since my last Erasmus experience and gosh damn it I miss everything: study life, international friends, daily dramas and yes, even the funny kitchen ladies. For many people, the Erasmus experience is a life-changing experience as it was for me but sadly some students would rather stay away from this life-changing journey due to several reasons: lack of confidence, afraid to try something new, addicts of the comfort zone etc. I was one of them a few years ago. I heard about this study exchange experience in my second year of Accounting BA school and even though I was fascinated about it, I never actually saw myself doing this and many questions popped in my head: “Is the scholarship enough to survive?”, “Am I good enough to endure a new educational system?” .. “Can I actually do it?”. I wanted to go for it in the second semester of my second year but then, in the last minute, I changed my plans and didn’t go.
Third year came and then I realized that I’m about to finish my studies and that I really needed something new and challenging in my life. I applied, scared of course, but in the end I went for it. To make things even better, I convinced one of my former colleagues and my current best friend to join me as well…and it was done. We literally slayed the University Selection and we were the first two students who got the scholarship. Third year of Accounting School started fresh, in a new country, new language, new educational system and damn I can talk for ages about it. Yes, you can do it. Yes, the scholarship is generally enough to survive. Yes, you can slay the sh*t out of any educational system if you are really eager to succeed and do it. Yes, this experience can change your views over life completely and yes, you are a new person after it. Trust me.
You learn about people, about life, about cultures and how important it is to embrace new ideas and be open minded. Erasmus is not just a simple exchange experience, it is, by far, the best experience you can ever have. I’m grateful that I studied in Portugal and super mega grateful that I went for it again during my master’s degree in Croatia. Both experiences were awesome and I hope that through this post, maybe I can convince whoever you are to go for it because life is too short anyways and staying in the comfort zone is the biggest mistake you can ever make.
Ever since my studies got completed, I craved the idea to work in an international environment where I can interact with people from different countries, learn a new language or just do your job in English cuz yas. I am lucky that I’m actually having all these right now and everything that motivated me was Erasmus. #OnceEramusAlwaysErasmus
#ErasmusForever
#ErasmusGeneration <3