It is a dream of many of us to go abroad. Especially in our student years, when we kept our horizons at the widest point, we all wanted this dream to come true. And Erasmus has become a unique opportunity for all students today. Some desire to see new places; anyone wants this dream to be one step ahead in their career. I embarked on this with the hope of seeing new places, adding color to my student life and most importantly, adding a plus to my career life at the beginning. But I think that Erasmus is only a learning movement, and when I spoke to my friends who have already been Erasmus, I became aware of Erasmus Internship Mobility. Taking advantage of this mobility under the name of the internship was more suitable for my wishes and goals than the learning movement (after all, I had the stress of my internship in the internship) and I made my application to go to Internship Mobility.
It was time to hit the road. My Erasmus adventure started with the sweet rush of visiting distant lands, seeing new places and meeting different people. Based on the difficulties I encountered while searching for an internship, I can say that the easiest part of the job is to pass the English exam held by the school. First of all, I made my application on the dates published by the school. Then I took the English exam. The first session of the exam consisted of test questions measuring grammar. In the second session of the afternoon, we were asked to choose one of the three topics given to us and write a composition. The third and final session the next day was the interview part I was most afraid of. I would choose one of the papers put upside down in front of us, talk to the relevant teachers (who were in charge of two teachers in the class I entered), and answer the questions they asked verbally. Fortunately, this stage was not as fearful as I expected, and in this way I got over the exam. I don’t remember how long it has been since; the school announced the exam results and got a score above the dam. I handed my transcript to the Erasmus office and started waiting for the full list to be announced. Since I am going to internship, 50% of my grade point average and 50% of the score I got from the English exam are on the main list as a result of the success ranking. Immediately after, I attended the Erasmus Orientation Program held at the school. I strongly recommend candidates to participate in this program; because I think that they can find the answer to any question they wonder from A to Z here. It will also be an effective way to get one-to-one information on the presence of experienced students who have previously experienced Erasmus. As a result of the explanations made, I took notes on many issues related to passport, visa, accommodation, accommodation, etc. and started looking for an internship. In line with the ethical principles of the psychological counseling and guidance department I have read, although I received rejection responses from many businesses I applied for, I never gave up. I tried to benefit from the internship search engines published by the Erasmus office, co-friends. I did long research. I sent CVs, sent emails to many countries, and finally I received a positive e-mail sent to the psychological counseling office that I found as a result of my research on Google, and as a result of my four-month search, I got the right to do an internship for three months in a business in Cologne, Germany. As I just mentioned, even though I sent mail to many countries, when I came to Germany, I said, “Well, it was Germany.” Because the fact that the Germans are well-established and everybody knows English gave me an advantage in many ways. Moreover, the fact that Germany was close to other countries that I would like to visit was its other happy side.
After I had my internship contract approved by the other party (you should definitely bring the original of this document on your return to the internship) it was time to deal with passport transactions and accommodation. At this point, my green passport right thanks to my father helped me a lot. (People in office have the right to issue a green passport after reaching a certain degree.) That is, I was going to do an internship for three months and I learned that green passport holders have the right to go to many countries, including Germany, for up to three months without a visa. After my application to the police, I received my passport in a week. I had my foreign travel insurance that the school wanted from me, I would say for those who wonder, I had my insurance done at an affordable price for İşbank, probably the price that private insurers wanted would not be a cold price. I made my online applications to Kölner Studentenwerk, which students often prefer. In addition, I called their work office and reported my situation, as a result of their understanding and help, I had nowhere to stay and I had no more to board and go.
I was on the road with the sweet uneasiness of going abroad for the first time, with the pride and courage that I have overcome the difficulties I have encountered. As I said at the beginning, it was time to visit distant lands. It was time to breathe different climates and learn new things from people I never knew. As you believe in the principle of “how are you, the people who come across it”, I have always met good people, many people I learned a lot during these three months. I approached everyone with the enthusiasm to learn something from the beginning, breaking all my prejudices. I did my internship with the desire to have a nice touch on people’s lives. I overcame the feeling of being away from my family with beautiful people I met there.
We have traveled as many countries as possible with our dear friends, and discovered new places. There are different memories left over from every journey, and I will have another recommendation at this point; as you know, high-speed trains in Europe are very convenient and widespread for the journey. But we wanted to prefer economic routes as much as possible. We used the car sharing method, which you can find by typing google on “Easy Car”, “Bla Bla Car” which allows us to save time as well. Although we hesitated at first, when we learned that it is widely used in Europe and that we have a legal right in any negative situation, this method worked very well and we made safe trips. If you say if the grant is enough, of course it was not. Even though it varies from country to country, my grant was enough to cover my accommodation and transportation expenses for three months, there was a small amount left for me, at this point, your families should also be reinforced.
When I came back when I said that I will have an adventure that I can say, “I am glad I did it,” it was an experience for me. It was a very different and special experience for me, from which I worked hard, from the beginning to the end, with my own desires and determination. I consider myself fortunate that I have not interrupted my internship and saw new places, and I can do both together.We have another moment in the streets of every country I visit with our group of friends that we are always with now, many memories to tell in every photograph we look at, every corner we passed. .
In spite of the initial difficulties and all the negative situations that I encounter, I say “good thing”, I am glad that I could not be a part of this adventure that every person should experience once in their lives. If you want to take a step that you would like to thank yourself for many years, if it is an experience that will remain the first of your “good fortune” phrases, your goal is to say, do not miss this opportunity offered to students while you have time today.
Gökhan Turgut Ünal
Studyingram Editor
