Life Lessons |ILLUMINATION

4 Life Lessons I Learned While Studying Abroad

Studying International Business in Austria

When I was 18, I moved to Austria, where I’ve had no friends or family members and where I’ve barely spoken the language. I enrolled at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and started to study International Business Administration. My courses were taught in German, just to make things even more complicated... I was in a completely new environment, facing culture shock, and in the first year, I was failing in many courses in the university.

Today, 3 years later, I’m about to finish my Bachelor with very good grades, I’ve learned the language and I’m also planning to stay in the country.

In this article, I will share the most important life lessons I’ve learned in the last 3 years.

1. You can learn basically anything

Yes, it is true. Trust me, I had law courses in my first year, and they were taught in German! I had no previous knowledge about Austrian law, plus my german knowledge was quite bad at that time...

It takes time and persistence, but if you just sit down and read the material slowly, without procrastinating, you can really learn anything you want. Surely, you have to focus, maybe you also need to learn ‘how to learn’, and how to understand unfamiliar concepts. And yes, it is going to be a tough ride. But there are some good news for you. You can Google these things! The Internet is there for you and you can use this amazing source of information for what you actually need. Learning is not a question of talent, it is a question of motivation and persistence.

2. Being alone in a new environment will bring hard and lonely times, BUT you can and will get through it!

Admittedly, moving abroad is hard. It is a scary and mostly lonely journey. At the beginning of my moving abroad, I wrote the following into my diary: “But there are times when you have to walk alone on the road for a while. Flowers are blooming on the road despite this. You just have to realize.” Being alone abroad is challenging, but getting stuff done on your own will make you feel powerful, you’ll learn extremely lot about your environment, and about yourself.

But most importantly, why are you going to get through these lonely times? Because you’ll be forced to. Life won’t stop just because you feel sad and lonely. You’ll meet people and after a while, you’ll be friends. You’ll start moving forward. You’ll have your “second life” abroad. It is just a matter of time.

3. People are not different abroad at all

People living abroad, speaking a different language are just like YOU! They are not different at all. They are humans in slightly different costumes, with slightly different traditions. Don’t ever forget that. We are one.

This realization will be extremely useful as soon as you start looking for “your kinds of people”. The people who have the same hobbies, who talk about the same topics, who study at the same university with you and who like the same things as you. Don’t get into the trap of differentiating yourself from ‘them’. Again, we are one. And I think that is the most helpful advice I will be ever able to give.

4. If you make this through, you’ll be able to achieve anything you want!

I got conscious about this only a couple of weeks ago. Finishing university abroad was my biggest aim so far. I didn’t give up, I didn’t even think of quitting and I didn’t complain (that much) about how difficult this whole stuff is. I was just doing it. Constantly. Day-by-day, step-by-step. And now, I am about to finish.

So after all of these years, struggling with German, living abroad, paying the rent, who would dare to tell me that I’m not able to achieve whatever crazy idea comes into my mind?

And the same goes with you! Finishing university abroad will give you strength and a lot of self-confidence. You got this!