Grab the chance – it’s never too late!

Warm greetings to all,

I am Ani from Georgia, spent my ERASMUS Exchange winter semester at RheinAhrCampus, Remagen, Germany. In the following lines, I would like to share my story of being an ERASMUS exchange student and how this event changed my life in a better way.

Since my bachelor studies, I have always wanted to experience studying and living abroad, gain knowledge, and try out my opportunities. Life went in a different direction, that time I was more focused on my working life, so I could not take the chance to study outside my country. When I started my master’s, I thought it was too late for me to apply for ERASMUS exchange, but something deep in my heart was telling me – “That’s the chance you should grab, no matter what”. So here I am now, writing this report from Germany and thankfully looking back at my last month’s full of emotions, countless memories and experiences.

Being an ERASMUS Exchange student is a life-long experience for me, that changed my attitudes, thoughts, I started to look at things from a different perspective, from an international perspective. Involving in the GreenErasmus project, even before coming to RheinAhrCampus, was promising an overwhelming ERASMUS Exchange semester with an international working and studying environment. I knew that was only beginning, and I was not mistaken. During my semester, alongside my classes, I had my internship, which was one of the most important activities that I have done here, as I could gain various skills and be part of different projects. Can you imagine being a course assistant and at the same time being the leader of the social media team or trying out your skills in the programming of the web page? Sounds exciting, right? It truly was, as I became more confident in my possibilities, managed my time better, learned that you should make mistakes to progress. Even small things that you contribute have value, and they are appreciated.

ERASMUS is about internationalization, about making friends for your lifetime. During this period, I have met people from different countries, like Germany, India, Albania, Greece, Azerbaijan, Jordan, and many more. From each of them, I have learned something new, exchanged knowledge, tried traditional food, worked in one team and what is important I started to appreciate other cultures even more. I am thankful that I made international friendships, that will definitely continue after this ERASMUS Exchange semester.

During this time, I traveled a lot. Exploring German cities at the beginning of the semester helped me to better understand the culture, lifestyle, and values of German people. Traveling makes your horizons wider to see the beauty of diversity, so why not take chance? I had truly memorable trips with my international friends with lots of adventures, and together we managed to visit several European countries in this short period of time.

Five months flew by so fast when I look back, I feel that I have just arrived in Remagen. Even the time feels to be less, I am sure that this was enough for me to become a better version of myself. I am happy that I have good and bad times, troubles and happiness, that taught me a lot of things.

As my story as an ERASMUS Exchange student at RheinAhrCampus is coming to end, I would like to thank all the people, who were around me during this period: the Core team of Sprachen Internationales, international and local students, my buddy and language tandem, my home university, everyone who had even a little contribution in this chapter of my life.

As an afterword, I want to encourage all the students around the world to take the opportunity and spend their ERASMUS Exchange semester abroad. And I was overwhelmed with emotions going back to Georgia with the suitcase full of memories, experiences, and beautiful moments.

Dear reader, take care and fight for your dreams, they will definitely come true!

Sending love,

Ani