Worth Experiencing..!

Hello dear reader!

I'm Adika from Azerbaijan, and after spending my second ERASMUS Exchange semester here, I'm going to share with you my precious and unforgettable experience at RheinAhrCampus!

My goal from the beginning of the first ERASMUS Exchange semester was to stay here for the second ERASMUS Exchange semester and as you are reading my second experience report, it means that this happened! There were different reasons behind this desire, for example, I wanted to understand whether I would like to continue to study in Germany for my Master’s Degree or not, or just simply to enjoy both winter and summer semesters of Remagen.  Even if there were things that I was losing if I would stay here one more ERASMUS Exchange semester, I decided to take this decision and I’m very happy for realizing it!
What was the difference between the first and second ERASMUS Exchange semesters of my stay in Remagen?

When I came to Germany, I didn’t know any words in the German language, except “How are you”, but now I can speak in German and partially understand local people. It was one of my goals before coming to Germany and I achieved it with the help of my lecturers. Since I didn’t have an internship in the first semester, I had a focus more on my lectures but in the second semester, I had an Academic Internship. During my Academic Internship, I improved my teamwork, commitment to deadlines, and getting constructive feedback skills. Even though it was hard to adapt to German discipline, it worked very effectively in the end.

Besides the professional life, of course, I met a lot of people from different nationalities with whom we became friends. I traveled a lot and during my trips, I was learning different types of lessons. Now, I’m an expert at planning the trips, haha! I have been to more than 15 countries in 11 months and I visited places that I could never think I will visit one day. I gained very strong friendships which I believe will continue afterward as well!

I’m leaving after 1 week and I'm worried about returning home after such a long period. I know that it will be difficult because the reverse culture shock is waiting for me. But does it scare me? Not at all! I’m grateful for each experience, bad or good, doesn’t matter, for teaching me life-changing lessons.  I identified my values during my stay abroad and now I’m the better version of myself! Of course, it is not ended but what I know exactly is that I’m not the same Adika who I was on the 5th of March when I arrived in Germany.  I will carry all good experiences, memories, people, and life lessons in my heart to my home country.

I’m thankful to the core members of Sprachen Internationales, International Relations of BEU, and Erasmus KA+107 program for giving me this opportunity to spend my exchange semester at RheinAhrCampus! It was one special chapter of my life which had both good and bad sides. One of the main life lessons was that we can always make mistakes but the important thing is to learn from these mistakes and not make the same ones!

Don’t hesitate to spend your ERASMUS Exchange semester at RAC and create your OWN story. Bye!

Best, 
Adika