How To Build Your Career. Another Life-changing Erasmus Experience
“Once Erasmus, always Erasmus” — it is what everyone says in the beginning and by the end of your Erasmus experience you realize that it is exactly like this. That sentence follows you in every moment of your life.
The decision of being an Erasmus student is an act of courage. The courage to step out of your comfort zone. The courage to move to a different country with a different culture for at least five months. The courage to face an educational/academic system different than the one that you are used to.
Erasmus Student Mobility is definitely about international experience and multiculturalism. Everyone says it and I confirm it too. I will just add that it is a lot about you, as an individual, both in your personal and professional aspects.
For me, my Erasmus was a huge opportunity. I always wished to study and to not be forced to work in order to support financially my studies. Coming from a small Romanian town, with no universities, I had no option than to move to a big city if I wanted to continue my studies. And I wanted to, therefore it was necessary to work in order to support my studies.
My studenthood was a mix of working and studying, which was not easy at all. Basically, I can say that I did not experience regular student life for more than six months, in the beginning. So, when, during my master studies, I had the opportunity to apply for Erasmus and I got accepted, that was a huge success for me. One of my dreams came true: for five months I could only focus on my studies, to attend classes, do research in my area, more than the standard homework, be involved in activities, participating in conferences, creating contacts both at the academic and personal level.
I did my Erasmus Student Mobility at the Education Institute of Minho University, in Braga, Portugal. I was the only Erasmus student in my group and I must admit that was not easy at all. All the classes were in Portuguese and, due to the similarities between Romanian and Portuguese, enforced by the Portuguese language classes I decided to not ask too much for English and to do my best to get my grades by studying in Portuguese.
Back then it was frustrating, I was misunderstanding and I remember that my first grade at one of the history classes was 6 on a scale from 1 to 20. I got so disappointed and frustrated that I pushed myself for more and more. In the end, I succeed. I finished the semester with an average of 15 (having in consideration that my colleagues had 12 or 13 and the highest was 17).
My Erasmus was not only about studies and studying hard, as it was not only about travelling or attending events. I did my best to mix them, so even if I was spending a lot of hours at the university library, I was also attending events and getting involved in the Erasmus Student Network activities. ESN is an association that deals with Erasmus students, in order to provide them with a good experience.
With the ESN team, we did debates on different social-economical topics, like how is an education in different countries, or about the nowadays topic discrimination, or the Turkey situation. We also did events in order to mark our international students’ support for the attacks in Turkey at that moment. Because of my involvement in the ESN, I was chosen to be present in their annual calendar, along with another 11 other students, as one of the significant Erasmus Students of that semester.
Because of my enthusiasm and my eager to learn more and more, one of my teachers invited me to attend two conferences related with my studies area (Adult Education and Community Intervention), where I met other students and teachers with the same interest as mine in education. During that period, I wrote an abstract for an Adult Education Conference that was held in UK during the 2016 summer where I got accepted. Unfortunately, I could not attend it and I had to give up, mainly because of financial reasons.
Meanwhile, I received a job offer to work for the European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting at their secretariat in Lisbon. This offer would not come to me if I was not going to my Erasmus. One of the friends that I made during that period, she did an internship at this Federation. When they open a position for Marketing and Communication Officer, she thought that I am the right person for that so she recommended me.
I passed through a Skype interview, where I was told that the interest is on me because of my studies and my Erasmus Student Mobility experience.
In less than one year, after my dream came true, I find myself in a totally changed environment. My whole life path switched unexpectedly, in a way that I am proud of myself. During my master programme and during the time when I was Erasmus and I got more and more interested in adult education and adult learning. Therefore, I was using social media channels and my blog to promote and write about adult education.
Because of this, the EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning Education) from Romania contacted me and informed me that if I want to be an ambassador, I can post my work on their website (articles, projects, abstracts, and so on). What makes me happy is the fact that my job is related not only with my bachelor degree, which is in marketing but also with my master studies, which are on adult learning and education.
There is more to be said because of the impact that experience like an Erasmus Student Mobility programme can have on both professional and personal paths of an individual is huge. In the same time, it is up to every student how they want to use this huge opportunity if they want to waste it or take advantage of it. From what I saw on my Erasmus colleagues, most of them take advantage of it, which makes me think that it is a matter of time until Europe will have more professionals in the labour market.
Through education, the world can be better and I must say that tools like students’ mobility, in this case, Erasmus+, are necessary, not only for students but also for professors.
The story goes on … for other students.
A short story was written after I graduated Faculty of Psychology and Education Science of Transilvania University, Brașov, Romania.
I have facilitated the learning agreement between my home university and The Education Institute, University of Braga, Portugal. I was the first Erasmus Student to study abroad based on the learning agreement during September 2015 and February 2016.
