Hello everybody! Today, we meet for another article!
“Erasmus is one of those adventures which can’t be forgotten – we don’t feel the same when we come back.” That’s what I said when I came back from my Erasmus in Valencia in Spain three years ago.
So, today, I would like to talk about this amazing experience I lived and the psychological effects of this kind of adventure.
During my third year of bachelor, I moved to Valencia to do an Erasmus of six months. There, I discovered a new culture, another way of teaching and I improved so much my English skills! Also, since this human experience I feel more confident.
Studies have been carried out to determine the impact of an Erasmus on students when they come back to their town.
Thanks to my research, I learnt that on average, Erasmus students have less difficulties finding a job compared to those who didn’t do a stay abroad. Indeed, they have more transversal skills than the others. A study made by The European Commission in 2014 said that 81% of Erasmus students perceive this improvement on their personality traits, greater than what they expected before going abroad! Also, more than 90% of the students realized upon their return to their country that they had better soft skills, like knowledge of other countries, an ability to communicate and work with people from different cultures, an adaptability and, of course, foreign language proficiency.
In addition to professional skills, students who made an Erasmus define their experience as a developmental and enriching period where they have matured because of everything they went through from positive to negative. Also, after an exchange, students get more confident, open-minded, adaptable, tolerant, better understand the others, etc. so it’s really important for a personal life and obviously for your team at work!
The Erasmus experience is useful for our future but there may be negative effects after this period… Have you heard about the post-depression Erasmus?
Indeed, the part of saying goodbye to your friends you met on your Erasmus can be really hard. Sometimes, they live far from your country so you know you’ll probably never see them again. Also, when you must go back home, return to your earlier life can be a shock. I perfectly know that feeling. This will feel strange for you at the beginning, even if you go back to your family and your home country which you have deeply missed. Leaving your new life and your new friends behind and coming back to reality is a difficult step for all international students. So, some of students may go through a period of depression that can last a few weeks, a few months or even more for some!
But what I can say, according to my opinion, my Erasmus friends and the studies made, there is a BEFORE and AFTER Erasmus. No matter what you live there, it changes people and make you evolve! If you want to discover a new YOU, go live this human experience to enrich you personally and professionally!!
See ya,
Julie