The “Erasmus +” program is one of the best things a young person can do and one of the most exciting experiences, because of the people you meet, the places you visit and the cultures you meet. Erasmus provides opportunities for growth, combined with fun and travel.
I could summarize what I have heard of Erasmus from friends, fellow students and teachers with the above words. I still cannot express my own opinion on this issue, because for the moment the only thing that I can share are my expectations, not my experience, because I don`t have it.
This year I'm going to experience my first two adventures related to the program. One of them is in a few days - in Turin, Italy for 10 days, and the other will start in 2 months - in Saarbrücken, Germany for 1 semester.
The second one scares me more, because of the distance, the duration and also the language barrier and that I have to study in another language that isn`t Bulgarian.
I want to say a few words about how far I was thinking about studying abroad and how that changed with the time.
At first, when I heard about the program, I did not take the information seriously, because it seemed very unbelievable to me. The biggest reason to see the things that way was because I couldn`t imagine studying abroad, to live alone in another country, to study in another language and to communicate with people around me in different language than Bulgarian. Or maybe I could imagine it, because my imagination is working well, but I couldn`t believe that I will try to do it. That is the reason to use the word “unbelievable” above.
The first step to get closer to this idea was when I started to communicate with people from other countries. I understood that it isn`t so scary and I can do it – for sure I didn`t have the best English skills (they still aren`t the best, like you can see, but enough good to understand the person in front of me and to explain what I think), but I started to believe a little more in myself. Something else that I realized with the time - the language barrier between you and the person in front of you makes the conversations much more interesting. Because with every next sentence you challenge yourself to structure it right and to say it in a way that the other person will understand you and every conversation (even the small talks) gives you something new.
In a few months I was travelling a little bit in Europe and then the traveler flame in me lit up.
That was the flame that gave me the motivation to start with something new, totally different than everything I had done before. I started to make plans how to visit more places, just to see more of the world.
Guess what! One of the first things that I decided to try to do was to check and ask about what I need to do to be part of the program “Erasmus+”. It was a long way to go before I decided to do it. At first, I mean that I had to find the right people to give me the right information, and at second – to decide to try to do it.
Then I made the first step - I applied for the place in a small German city next to the German border with France – Saarbrucken. In a few months I received the admission letter from them and now I am looking for accommodation and plane tickets to Saarbrucken.
I can`t say something more than that I expect everything good and bad. I am scared, but excited. Often, I am thinking about everything bad that could happen, but more often I am thinking about everything good that will happen.
I don’t know how everything will go, but I am sure about one thing – I believe that I can do it, and this is the most valuable thing that the program Erasmus gave me, even before it started.