How student exchange programs, can change and improve a person’s personality

When my mom encouraged me to apply for an exchange program, back in 2018 I was sceptical about it. That’s because I was a shy and weird teenager with low self-esteem. It’s weird how grateful I am to my parents for giving me this opportunity. I’ve been away for almost 12 months and those months, believe me, changed me a lot. I am writing this article to encourage young teenagers or parents who have kids, to learn more about these truly life-changing programs.

1. The language

There’s something magical and satisfactory about knowing a language. Knowing at least 2 or more languages can highly increase your chances in the future for getting a job, it can boost your confidence levels. While being aboard you are forced to learn the native language of the country or if you already know it, there’s always a lot of room for improvement. Personally, it took me about 3–5 months to get hang of Spanish and after 7–8 months, I am pretty confident to say, that I was fluent.

2. Uncomfortable situations

You know what they say about personal growth, “the best way to grow, is to step out of your comfort zone.” That’s exactly what an exchange student does 24/7. Trying to speak a new language, as well as having a weird accent is not always the most comfortable thing to do. Experiencing the culture of the country pushes you to try new things, like dancing, singing and so on. I used to hate dancing before my exchange. I remember my first day of school, my classmates made me dance their folk-dances, I recall being terrified and having all my palms super sweaty. We danced a lot, at school, in the clubs and as the time past, I fell in love with dancing. So things like that happen during exchange and they really add up in the long run, students come back home with new mindsets, ideas, activities.

3. A tremendous sense of accomplishment

It’s a big deal being away for a long time, no family, no friends, everything is new, unseen, untouched. As time moves on, the student feels that he has achieved a lot. While being there, the student made new friends, connections, learned a language, perhaps rediscovered himself. Went through some rough times as well, but what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. Having experienced all of those things, the person obviously feels that he has achieved something exceptional and unordinary.

4. Open-mindset

Not a lot of people notice, but when they’re travelling, they are not actually getting the full experience of foreign cultures, or they just simply don’t notice things, because of the lack of time. As an exchange student, you have plenty of time to get to know the culture better. All the customs, traditions, food even the way how people socialize in other countries is a lot different. Some people are warmer, some colder that depends on a country as well. While the student is getting to know the culture and people, he’s unconsciously changing his mindset. His personality starts shaping in a whole other way. Before my exchange, I used to think that working in a farm sucks, but actually during my exchange, I had to work on a farm several times, because of my location and school. As I got to know the farm culture better, I started liking it, it’s not that awful as a lot of people imagine, it can be gross, but for me, it was kind of exciting.

Being on exchange is truly incredible. It’s a one life-time experience, no doubts about it. Hopefully, this encouraged someone to consider going on exchange or sending their kids. It’s not a year in your life, it’s a life in a year.