What i’d like to talk about is the beautiful world of the erasmus programme.
The objective of my presentation is to show you all the characteristics of starting this adventure, why choose to do an Erasmus and what type of benefits and opportunities it could entail if you did it or not.
So what is Erasmus ?
Erasmus+ is the EU program for education, training, youth and sport in Europe.
The name of the program comes from the Dutch humanist and theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466/69-1536), who traveled for several years throughout Europe to understand its different cultures.
It is a program that offers opportunities for mobility and cooperation for:
-Higher education
-Education and professional training
-School education, including early childhood education and care
-Adult education
-The youth
-Sport.
It therefore embraces many different contexts, and which involve multiple age groups and Erasmus gives a European student the opportunity to study or do an internship in a European Union member country for a period ranging from 3 to 12 months. Students can also travel to some European countries that are not members of the Union but associated with the Erasmus Programme, i.e. to EFTA member countries that are members of the European Economic Area (Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway) and to acceding countries, countries candidates and potential candidates to the European Union (North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey).
The idea of allowing exchanges between European students originated in 1969, thanks to the intuition of the Italian Sofia Corradi (nicknamed “Erasmus Mom”).
Obviously it took many years for the project to take hold, and analyzing the data in 2009, therefore 22 years after its creation the program has managed to promote, within the European community, the mobility of more than 2, 2 million students. More than 4000 university institutions from 31 countries join the project.
Today the project has allowed over half a million Italian students to visit states inside and outside the European Union.
What was Erasmus for me?
During my first degree, I went in Valencia for 6 months with the Erasmus program.
It wasn’t the first time I lived away from home, but it was certainly the first time I had to face such a long period, in a country that wasn’t mine and in a new university.
The program not only encourages learning and understanding of the host culture but also a sense of community among students from different countries. The Erasmus experience is considered not only a university moment but also an opportunity to learn to live with different cultures, as well as a moment in which the student begins to take on responsibilities.
And for me it was just that.
I met so many amazing people and I’m still on very good terms with them.
Some of them have become my absolute best friends, with whom I have shared unforgettable moments and unique emotions.