What are you doing in Italy, Liia?
My name is Liia Svimonishvili, I study Law and International Relations (BA) at TalTech, now being in the middle of my 4th semester, which I happen to spend in Trento, Italy, participating in the Erasmus exchange programme. Reading and understanding this article will be easier if you get the basics of Erasmus first — you can find them on the university website. This is not a “How to apply” guide but rather a collection of some personal thoughts and pieces of advice.
Going abroad with Erasmus is something I knew I was going to do from the very beginning, the opportunity of spending a semester or two somewhere new without actually having to move completely (which can be time and money consuming especially if you are a non-EU citizen) seemed perfect.
I will not get into too much detail and will get straight to the point — Erasmus is a truly great opportunity and unless you have a solid reason to pass on it, you really should not. Once again, I do not want to talk about the application process for too long as it is much better explained on the website. I will just say you need to have certain GPA and language skills and be able to fill in a basic application form by a set deadline. So, stay with me and I will tell you about some issues you might face before and during the mobility and of course, briefly provide my overall opinion.
Motivation: get past the paperwork and stick to your decision
Probably, the most painful part of getting into the exchange programme was finding a university that offers the courses I need, making sure I will be able to take them once I am there and that I will be able to transfer them after the mobility. I spent many hours trying to figure all of this out and the only solid advice I can give is just make yourself do it as I guarantee the result will be worth it. This is the most time-consuming part of the application process and I in fact know of some cases when people simply did not make it to the next step due to them lacking motivation. Just like with any task you ever get at school or anywhere else, the only way to get it done is to actually do it.
The second problem I personally experienced was a sudden “Do I really want to leave everything I have here for 6 months?” question that was just out there which really confused me. I had a job and friends in Tallinn, a family nearby; I also knew how hard, effort and time-wise it was to move to a new country. The fact that twice a year there is a huge Erasmus advertising campaign happening in TalTech suggests I was not the first person to feel that way — you get used to comfort and chill of Estonia pretty fast, why bother going anywhere else? My advice here is remember you only live once and going somewhere without having to think through the whole “What am I gonna do in a foreign country” strategy is basically the best you can get. If talking about the overall experience, bureaucracy and deadlines may be exhausting but what you get in return is extremely valuable.
Better safe than sorry: a few things to bear in mind
First of all, for those who are worried about socialising: once you go somewhere with Erasmus or with any other exchange programme, you become a part of the “international exchange” community by default so meeting people will not be a problem. Personally, I mostly exist outside the above-mentioned community: almost all of my friends are either Italian or getting a degree here full-time, so in case you want some real cultural experience “on the inside”, you can get one too. Being with Erasmus does not make you different from any other university student.
Studying process is pretty much the same in all European universities apart from some organizational details like attendance and grading (these are just the ones I could first think of: there are some more, obviously, but it just takes a little flexibility on your part to get used to them). The only thing I would strongly recommend to do is think through all the courses you are going to take, preferably find a few extra ones — sometimes the courses you were planning to take may be cancelled, held in a different language than you expected or simply not be the right fit for you. It is also a good idea to have several accommodation options — you never know how your non or semi-formal agreements you made with foreign landlords while still in Estonia will work out.
To be honest, this article was very hard to write even though writing is usually my kind of thing. I have so much to share that I cannot think of a way to cover it all without writing a series of books. It also may seem weird that I mostly concentrate on the negative, but my main purpose was to keep it real and hopefully help those who are facing the same difficulties throughout the process. If you feel like going abroad with Erasmus, please, do. There was not a single moment I regretted it and I would totally do this again.
If you have any questions or you need any help, feel free to contact me via email svimonish@gmail.com; please, read through the info on the website first, though. It may not cover all of your questions, but it certainly will give you a complex idea of what the application process is like and what the whole mobility thing is about.
