Unforgettable Journeys: A World of New People

G’day! I’m Xavier Sutton from Australia, and these last six months have been some of the most interesting and impactful times in my entire life so far.

Before coming to Germany, my international experience was minimal; a few weeks in America, and a few international friends from university were my only real interactions with cultures outside of Australia. Since then, I’ve had the delightful opportunity to meet people from all around the world.

One of the biggest highlights of my experience in Germany was the BIP program. BIP was a project where students from universities across Europe joined together to work on a project for Yasar University in Izmir, Turkey. On this project I had the opportunity to establish connections across the world, establishing connections across the world, from Curaçao in the Dutch Caribbean, to the new group of connections I formed with the group from ISCAP in Portugal. The opportunity to meet and work with so many people is one that will have a positive impact on my working habits for the rest of my life. 

Outside of university coursework, I have also had the opportunity to meet and learn from many of the local German students too. “In die Augen!" is a sentence which has become ingrained in my mind, as eye contact while saying “Prost!” is something I was never truly accustomed to before my arrival in Germany. “Mit Karte bitte,” is another sentence every foreign student very quickly learns to say on instinct whenever shopping for groceries, and which will be used almost daily when grocery shopping has been left just a little bit too long. 

While there were so many great experiences, there were also many struggles to get through over this semester. One of the key takeaways from the semester has been to learn to recognise my own mistakes and learn how to improve from them. This growth mindset has led me to investing in a year planner, and an alarm clock to help me keep on top of my schedule, something I struggled with in the beginning of my exchange period.

With all the amazing times I experienced in this last semester, I am truly grateful for the opportunities provided by RheinAhrCampus.