Why Should I Do an Erasmus Exchange?

Something that every single student should do at least once in a lifetime: to go on Erasmus (student exchange program).

To live a time frame in another country, to hang out with people from all over the world, to practice and study in another language, to involve yourself in a totally different culture, to grow as a person, to overcome fears and to open your mind. This, among many other things, is what you are gonna get from an international experience.

For me, Erasmus was to open a door to get inside of a room full with many other doors. I remember perfectly almost every day there. Everything seems much more seductive and fascinating, everything makes you excited, your predisposition towards all things is much more positive, you are just yourself more than ever, you live the events more intensively and you go with the flow, because you know it's only going to last a short time. Even so the friends you make will be for life and the moments you live will never be comparable to anything. My Erasmus in Ilmenau, Germany was my first big international experience and the trigger of many others. And, without any doubt whatsoever, I came back to Spain feeling different.

Everything that you heard about it is probably true, although there are some “Erasmus Myths” that you don't have to believe 100%:

-Erasmus students don't attend class and they pass the subjects. Well, you have to go to your classes and do your exams like everybody else. It's possible that they make things easier for foreign students (and not always) because they understand that it could be harder for them because of the language, but that doesn't mean they are going to give you all for free. If you don't attend class and take your exams you can consider yourself fail.

-Erasmus students are always travelling to other countries. It is true that some students who come from a different continent make the most of their time to travel as much as they can, because they are really far away from their home and they don't know when an opportunity like this is gonna show up again, but one has to have money. Scholarships are not big and definitely not enough to travel all around the world, therefore there are many exchange students who can not afford the luxury of travel.

-Erasmus students do nothing but party. It should be taken into account that exchange students usually have less subjects than the rest of the students (for instance, I had only 3 subjects back then and one of them didn't have attendance), therefore they have much more free time. And at the same time it's a really short exchange period, so they want to use the time. Not all the time is spent just in parties, but nobody visits much the student accommodation.

-Erasmus male students lose weight and Erasmus female students gain weight. You change completely your daily routine, you taste every different kind of food and drinks, there are days when one is able to be awake for 36 hours and “nights” when one can sleep for 15 hours one after the other, you don't stop doing stuff the whole day and it's easy to lose count of how many beers have you drunk. We all do the same, nevertheless guys come back to their country thinner and girls fatter. This is a fact and it makes no sense.

-Erasmus students break up with their partners. That's probably the most scary reason for some people at the time of decide to going on an Erasmus or not, that EVERYBODY is going to break up with the boyfriend/girlfriend that remains behind. It's is true that you are going to be constantly in contact with new people and the whole experience is intense, so it's normal to connect easily with people who are doing the same thing you do and that can influence badly over your relationship, but I also know people who have gone on an exchange and at no time their relationships have been affected. This, of course, depends on each person.

-Erasmus students suffer Post-Erasmus Depression Syndrome. Totally true. I don't know anybody who has gone on an Erasmus and doesn't have come back to his/her country total depress. The first 3 days are amazing because we all like to be back and see our friends and family, but after a while... PUM! We have a breakdown. And it's normal, it has been a lot in a really short time. You can't explain it, you have to experience it.

I recommend it to everybody, because I don't know a single person who had had a bad experience, quite the opposite. Think that economically the university is always going to help you. Concretely the Erasmus program usually has good scholarships, which make possible for everybody to afford the experience, although each State is different.

On the other hand, the university always offers many vacancies and it's weird that all of them are filled up, because not so many people go at the end. If you are not admitted on the first list, you just have to wait and insist after a while. Many students give up their vacancies and there is a time when nobody is going to call you anymore; if no one asks for them no one fills up those vacancies. Provided you meet the minimum requirements for an exchange, which are normally to have an amount of credits done and to pass a level exam in the language of the country you want to go, you can get a vacancy being a bit insistent. If you want, you can.

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: Who was the one who referred to this exchange program for the first time as “Orgasmus”? No need to wonder what he/she was thinking.

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