Category: 2015/16 Luma R. (Brazil)

Almost 4 months have passed and all the questions and worries that I used to have at first are now nothing more than funny stories. As strange as it sounds, right now I don’t feel like I’m in an exchange program anymore, it feels simply normal. My life in Brazil seams to be the odd one now. I keep wondering how strange it will be for me to get back to my old life, which now seams so different from what I’m used to.

Throughout the course of this exchange program I’ve met so many people. People from all over the world, so different from me, but that somehow all contributed to make this experience as good as it has been. Although I’m not under the illusion that I’ll always keep in contact with all these people that at the moment I see everyday, I’m really glad to have met every single one of them.

Something very interesting about exchange programs is that we end up forming really strong friendships vey quickly, as in a way, when you’re miles away from home, friends become family faster than you’d think. Some of my closest friends are going back to their countries before Christmas, as they only came to the UK for a term, and I already feel nostalgic that they are not going to be here anymore, so in these last few weeks we’re doing lost of programs and plans to enjoy these last moments.

During Christmas I’m going to be back at Brazil to spend my holidays with friends and family, and very excitingly, I’m going to discuss the possibility of extending my exchange program and actually finishing college here in England. Although it’s very easy to keep in contact with friends and family with now-a-days technology, there’s still something about home that we cannot help but miss. I’m not going to have a cold and snowy Christmas after all, but a rather hot one with warm reunions.

If there’s ever someone that is reading this post wondering if they should go on an exchange program, there is only one thing that I can say: do it. You grow in so many ways you never thought was possible. You get to experience being a little bit more independent, and from personal experience I can say that in the moment you have to get a bus to buy toothpaste, you realize that you’re not living with your parents anymore and that you have to take care of yourself. When you live in a country away from home you learn so many things and become so much more open minded. There are obviously ups and downs, and you might even find yourself in a Brazilian shop crying because you miss your country’s food, but there has never been one day that I have even doubtedGet o that this exchange program is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

If I have learned something is that you can never grow when things are “perfect” and everything is confortable. You need to get out of your comfort zone to be able to be confortable in your own. In this experience you get to find out how many points of view there is in this world, the value of friendships and how to make your own decisions. Doing an exchange program is and experience everyone should have.

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page”.

-Saint Augustine