Goodbyes are not forever

Hello,

My name is Nikoloz Mtsariashvili, I am 20 years old, and I am from a beautiful country called Georgia. My experience of studying abroad as an exchange student is one that is both exciting and challenging. The opportunity to immerse oneself in a new culture, meet new people, and gain a new perspective on the world is truly invaluable.

As children we have many dreams and desires, and one of my most wanted desires was to study abroad in a foreign country, especially Germany, because my interest was always to learn a new culture, meet new people and learn from different studying methods. Everyone has a dream they want to achieve, but it is normally long-term. Yet, to break down the idea of achieving a dream there must be goals that have to be accomplished along the way. For example, my dream is to start my own business which will provide me with everything I need.  To accomplish this dream I wanted to gain knowledge from different places around the world and meet some interesting and important people while abroad in order to cultivate real connections. But, as it turned out, not only did I meet important people, but I met people who were going through the same period of life as I was. These people will not just stay as people that I have met from different countries but will remain as friends who helped each other overcome struggles, hard times, tears, and most importantly shared good times while making unforgettable memories.

 There is an old Georgian tale about the king who gave a task to his two sons, “Go around the world and build as many houses as you can, then come back in ten years,” he said. Although the king gave this command, both of his sons understood the task differently. Ten years passed, and the sons returned to the castle. “What have you accomplished?” father asked, “I built 10 houses,” said the youngest son. Whereas the eldest son said, “I made relationships with over a 100 people who will always welcome me inside their homes.”  

During my time in Germany, I have followed the same footprints of the eldest son by developing relationships with people I have met from all over the world including the United States, Bhutan, India, France, Italy, Spain, Iraq, etc. Knowing these people have given me the opportunity to look at the walls from a different perspective, every time to think not ordinarily but uniquely. Behind every success there is hard work, and to talk about my experience, I failed and got rejected two times until I got accepted into a program, this experience taught me to never back down to never surrender, and if you really want to achieve it keep trying even if you are going through hell keep going until you succeed. It doesn’t matter how hard this dream is, we have to keep going never back down never stop trying.

Overall, my exchange experience was an incredibly enriching and life-changing experience. It helped me to develop independence, adaptability and an open mind. It also helped me to improve my language skills, gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and customs, to develop a global perspective and most importantly make friends from different corners of the world. For anyone who is thinking about it, I would highly suggest studying abroad.