Ahh Erasmus, the right of passage for free spirited students to fully engage themselves in a totally new culture outside the confines of their local pub.
From Alicante to Rome, Canada or the US of A, DCU has an array of options to offer their students to fully experience a new world of studies.
As I await my departure to Alicante for the year, I decided to do up a list of my expectations for Erasmus.
1. Study?
Technically yes… you go on ERASMUS to study, but come on, we all know it’s really just a more civilised year long sixth year holiday. When studying a language it’s obviously very important to show up to classes, attend lectures, upload assignments etc. but nothing will make you learn a language more than being introduced to the 50 different ways to order “cervezas” in front of a very impatient bartender.
2. Personal growth.
With summer nearing a close, and work finally finished, I can kick back, relax and finally prepare for my year ahead… although now that the work has stopped, so has the money. It’s time to go into survival mode. How many days can one survive off a single rice cake and a packet of dried koka noodles? Seriously though, this is my year to try new things, say “yes” to plans, spend as little time in my accommodation as possible and send my mother those videos of myself skydiving over Alicante without any warning.
3. Meeting new people
This one is quite nerve wracking to me, but sure we all have to do it don’t we? Call me delusional but orientation better be a blur of beach days, chaotic card games and pub crawls that bind us together through shared trauma, if not then I don’t want it. Just as long as I have a solid 4 people to book spontaneous trips to the 6 other continents of the world with, then happy days.
4. Free Will
A person with the knowledge of free will is a person to be feared. It’s like consequences don’t exist to them. Have you ever got that intrusive thought but dismissed it as soon as it entered your mind? These people act the first time. But maybe, just maybe I CAN just skip that lecture, maybe I CAN book a trip to Rome for the weekend, and maybe I CAN sink 15 jägermeisters in one sitting (although consequences might exist for that one whether I believe in them or not).
5. Homesickness
I know I’ll miss home a lot… but not enough to come home early. It’ll be the small things that I’ll miss: the rain, the uncertainty of the N4 to DCU, and most of all, the prices. I’ll miss taking out a mortgage to pay for a pint of Guinness in town and … well, I’m not sure if this sarcasm is coming across on text.
All in all, Erasmus is the opportunity of a lifetime and definitely not something to be passed up easily. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows either, it will be action packed with highs and lows. Worries and stresses, exams and assignments and the biggest fear of them all – how am I going to fit my whole wardrobe into a 10kg Ryanair carry on?
