Why You Should Go On Exchange (even if you’ve already traveled)

I stumbled into my exchange experience in a very haphazard, awkward way. I was completely unprepared and it was never in my plans. I’d already traveled extensively throughout my teen years and saw university as an inevitable “settling down.” It was time to commit to the idea of the brick-and-mortar, belly up to the bar for my shot of higher education, and settle in for the long haul. And then I was whisked away on a ridiculous, unforseen, surprisingly challenging adventure of a lifetime with just a few month’s warning. We plan. Life happens.

When I got into exchange, I felt a little guilty…

I’d already traveled more than most of the other students in the room of 44 other finalists. Did I really deserve a place in the program? I still feel conflicted about this. I think the university should choose students who haven’t had the opportunity to travel rather than those who’ve kind of had one of the most adventurous possible childhoods. There’s a bit of internal guilt going on there for me, even a year later. But that said, I was 100% wrong in my assumption that this would be like any other travel experience I’d had up to that point. It was nothing like I expected.

In some ways, being on exchange was similar to long-term slow travel.

I was used to not being able to understand everything around me. I experienced culture shock, as usual, but I’m comfortable with dealing with those emotions now. There was nothing too new or difficult about navigating unfamiliar transit systems or finding my way in a strange city. But on a long-term scale, the experience was new.

This was my first time renting an apartment in a foreign country. I managed to find a decent place in the city center and moved in without too much trouble. But the emotions that I had to deal with in the following two months were intense. I’d never felt so alone or so far away. I didn’t regret the adventure, I knew the feelings would pass, but they were intense nonetheless. I cried a lot. Weird things like not knowing what to cook with strange new ingredients would set me off. It took a while to settle in.

My little home was adorable.

Once I did settle in, I experienced a level of independence and confidence I’d never felt before.

I was providing for myself and building a life thousands of miles away from anyone I knew. I was completely self-dependent and it was exhilerating after it stopped feeling scary. I gained confidence and a brand new friend group. I hosted Canadian Thanksgiving in my little attic room and made new memories.

Every challenge I tackled, from figuring out how to make “cranberry” sauce without cranberries or my mom, to learning the Dutch academic system, boosted my problem-solving skills and confidence.

There’s something to be said for taking the time to study in a higher-level academic setting abroad.

Normal travel ideally puts you in at least surface-level contact with locals and their ideas, but exchange takes this next level. It was fascinating to get an inside look into the Dutch perspective on the world. Their take on international issues broadened my own outlook on international connection. I think I mentioned in another post one eye-opening lecture I attended on the “quickest downfall of a superpower in our history” – focused on the US. It was those kinds of shocking twists in perspective that took my education to the next level.

At any given time, the city of Groningen has over 152 nationalities represented in its population. So not only was I gaining insight into the Dutch perspective, I was also constantly talking to students from all over the world, each with their own unique backgrounds and takes on international issues. The contrast between the student culture in Groningen and at Queen’s (Ontario) was striking. In Groningen, you can be at a typical uni party playing beer pong with music blasting and the group will be chatting about economics or the environment or – of course – Trump. That kind of casual academic conversation isn’t a thing at Queen’s, at least as far as I’ve seen. I loved it.

The academic competition here was fierce too, which forced me to improve as a student.

This sounds obnoxious of me, but… I’ve never really had a hard time getting good grades. I’m lucky enough to have exactly the right kind of brain for the exams. Plus, I’m a weirdo who legitimately likes studying. I’ve never had to seriously apply myself to get A-level grades elsewhere. Actually, the less I cared, the better I seemed to do. Here, I had to work for it. I actually failed an exam for the first time. It was challenging, but incredible.

I learned that I had identified as a “straight-A student” more deeply than I’d realized. Once that title was stripped away, I came to terms with the fact that my best was fine, that the points system doesn’t mean much for my future, and that I could actually take my studying skills to levels I didn’t know I had in me. It both relaxed me and made me keen to sharpen up. I’d been lazy up to that point, frankly, without even realizing it.

Going home, I’ve been thinking about what the past year has meant for my development.

The physical distance from family, my partner, and my friends has allowed me to step away from any limits I was putting on who I was and explore my independence and early adulthood. There’s just been this strong sense of freedom. I’m not the vision that others have of me, or even the vision I’ve had of myself. So who do I want to become?

This year has helped me to become more grounded in that idea of who I am, where I’m going, what academics mean to me, and what my next move will be. I still feel like I’m playing at adulthood, but it’s my game now… and I’ve got the dice loaded.