'Why Erasmus' by Simone

Personal growth as a never ending journey !

"if there is one thing more than another which absolutely requires free activity on the part
of the individual, it is precisely education, whose object it is to develop the individual"
Wilhelm von Humboldt (founder of the University of Berlin)

Even if personal growth is an individualistic experience everybody can develop it in his / her own way thanks to a unique opportunity called students mobility. The most important benefits of the international mobility relate to improved language skills, learning about new cultures, personal growth and soft skills development. The improved language skills and general social/personal skills, such as confidence and independence that develop abroad, are regarded as useful not just with regard to the individual growth but also for a future employment. How many among us left their own countries believing that studying abroad would have helped secure a future job.

If the international period is looked at from the perspective of personal growth, the act of leaving and managing new situations are the most important things. Surprisingly, exchanges that are not readily and completely organized for the student are even more formative. They prove the student’s initiative and ability to handle difficult situations during this international period. And the skills that usually are developed the most are:

• developing competence
• managing emotions
• achieving autonomy and interdependence
• developing mature interpersonal relationships
• establishing identity
• developing purpose
• developing integrity

The development of the soft skills is strictly connected to the personal growth. This term is related to a cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people. Soft skills are the complement of hard skills which are those skills required for a job and many other activities. The soft skills that usually are developed the most during an exchange period are:

• Socializing with someone
• Participate in a team
• Unite a team amidst cultural differences
• Negotiate
• Decision making
• Problem solving
• Active Listening
• Establish rapport
• Empathic communication
• Self-awareness
• Proactive Attitude

The international mobility is not just a useful experience for personal growth or soft skills development but it is even a great opportunity for broaden our horizons, start looking at the world from a different prospective and finally start cooking independently from your mamma!