STUDY ABROAD EXPERIENCE AT TRINITY

My name is Gonzalo, I’m 23 years old and I’m a Spanish student. I´m presently completing the 4rd year of the Bachelors’ degree in Chemistry. My Erasmus experience has been AMAZING.

I arrived the 10th of January, the first days I was shaking like a leaf, I was completely lost and I felt that everybody spoke much better English than me. The day of the welcome meeting for new foreign students I didn’t know anybody and I started talking with other international students. After the welcome meeting, everybody vanished so my first impression was that it was so difficult making new friends in an Erasmus programme.

Since the day after, all my fears disappeared. I signed up a Dublin tour that Trinity College had advised me to go tanks to an email. This was the key to start knowing new friends from many different countries: Poland, Sweden, France, Italy, Belgium, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, etc. We have had the chance to share our time, to visit this wonderful country, to learn about other cultures and countries and above all, to become great friends. I’ve also made Irish friends in trampoline or in incredible societies that I joined or in the events I assisted such as quizzes and parties.

On the other hand, talking about academics, I was working on my Final Degree Project in a chemistry group. It has been difficult because of the language but very enriching at the same time. I’ve learnt many new things in terms of chemistry and I’ve been able to work in a high level laboratory different from my home university’s labs.

I would strongly recommend to everyone this experience. If you ask me, getting out of our comfort zone is one of the most important things to live in life.

Gonzalo