E+ Programme: Exchange Student, Erasmus Mundus Green-Tech WB

Host Institution: University of Porto, Portugal

Period: 2015 – 2016

Academic year: 2015/2016

“Chasing a Dream”

My name is Tea Feratllari, one of the students participating in the Erasmus Mundus Green-Tech WB program academic year 2015-2016. At the same time, student at the University of Korça, Faculty of History and Philology, from where the beautiful journey of the Erasmus program begins.

 It was a normal lecture day, sitting on the university benches, that would make the difference and would be the starting point of a European dream.

 And it was exactly the date September 10, 2015, that still remains in my memory as if it were today, when I stared my first journey away from my country, away from family and moreover alone.

 In flight over European land I felt truly “above the clouds,” a sense of satisfaction mixed with a fear still unknown. This fear was somewhat extinguished when upon arrival at the airport of my future city appeared the friendly face of the representative of ESN (Erasmus Student Network) who helped us to address us at the student residence (found since we were in Albania) . The new knowledge and skills acquired abroad, it is time to unfold in the Diploma Thesis after a year of work and research experience. And on graduation day I fill my eyes with tears when you I see myself growing up and when with those hands that trembled with fear at first when it all started you hold not only a diploma card but much more than that, proudly hold the crown for your achievements.

At the end of the day and then every other day you are no longer afraid to take new initiatives. This experience helped me to be more open-minded to the world, to cultural differences, to learn something new whenever I could, to knock on doors to ask without hesitation, to want to learn a new language, to be myself but above all to love what I do.