Well, after finishing my bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Administration, I thought that I needed to do something different; I needed to improve my English level and learn other languages.
I wanted to travel and live new experiences, so I decided to participate for 3 months in an Erasmus internship in Slovakia, working in a Spanish school with several courses around Slovakia.
In Slovak town, I met people from different countries participating in ESC and they explained to me everything about this program and other Erasmus opportunities. Therefore, I decided that it was a good chance to continue improving my English and learning new skills. After my internship I participated in an EU Youth exchange about entrepreneurship, this is another Erasmus program funded by the EU.
I spent one week in Slovakia (again) participating in different workshops and activities related to marketing, entrepreneurship, and innovation with other 30 people from Russia, Slovakia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Spain. And finally, I decided to join a short-term ESC (2 months) in Bulgaria.
These experiences have helped me to be more self-confident, learn to work in multicultural environments, broaden my mind, learn how to manage difficult situations, be aware of the world problems and about the situation of the countries where I stayed, learn to use some software, live with people from very different cultures and different personalities, improve my communication in English and learn some words and expressions in other languages.
It is hard to go out of your comfort area, and you can feel scared at the beginning: go abroad alone, communicate in a foreign language with new people, insecurity, far from family and friends… I felt the same way at the beginning, but once you start you will never stop doing it. Definitely, international mobility programs will change your life in a very positive way, you will never be the same.
Eduardo.