Lisa in all states – you can learn a lot from foreign students

Traveling across borders makes you stronger as a person. By traveling to a different country you are unconsciously developing many skills that cannot be discussed in a classroom. Your confidence and social skills are best tested in a new environment. You start living on your own without anyone holding you back. Also, you don't have a network yet, so instead of waiting for icebreakers in class, you learn to approach people and introduce yourself.

The great thing is that AUAS is becoming increasingly international. Looking around my current classroom there are students from Spain, France and Germany. They all bring different backgrounds to the classroom from which I as a student and my teachers learn. Not only because education is different in other countries, but also about the media in one's own country, for example. Brainstorming involves many more perspectives.

This semester my class is on exchange with students from Oxford Brookes University. International students recently arrived in Amsterdam and in April we will take the ferry to England. I think such short projects also contribute to our growth. This way we are encouraged to network inside and outside the classroom, refresh our English language skills and exchange cultures with each other.

I want to say: If I hadn't been on an exchange, if I hadn't come to America, I wouldn't be who I am today. I now have a much lighter approach to life. There is more peace in my everyday life, I have learned to put things in perspective and I value that. I feel less need to complete my education 'on time' and instead I am grateful for who and where I am now. That feeling? I wish the same for every student.