I always say that now my family’s not here. It’s not just here, it’s all around the world. And that’s something I think everybody has to experience once in their life. Yeah, it can be scary, but you’re going to be with people that really help you, and that’s amazing.
My exchange helped me to be a better leader, and to be more helpful in my family and in my school. I learned how to speak another language fluently, but it’s not just that. You make connections. You make friendships. You make a lot of experiences and memories that are like gold.
The first thing that I asked myself is – am I brave enough to go out by myself? But my exchange made me braver. It’s made me more independent, and I think that it made me realize how important it is to just go for it.
I realized that if I don’t reach out and do things, the experiences are not coming for me because everyone thinks that I’m just another student. So I had to challenge myself to socialize and talk to everyone, and I made so many friends that way.