Paulina Origel Herrera, Industrial Engineering student, spent the previous semester at the Pontifical University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and here she tells us about her experience.
When you entered Uni did you know there were international programs?
No, in the second semester I found out that I could go to another country and I started to have the idea of leaving.
Did you think you would go live and study abroad in your first semester?
I never, ever thought I would be away from home for so long, studying in another country with a language different from my own.
Have you ever lived or studied outside of Mexico before?
No, I had never studied outside Mexico
What prompted or motivated you to study in another country?
First of all, learning another language, meeting new places, meeting new people and getting to know other cultures.
Why did you decide to study in that country?
Many of my classmates had gone to Brazil and always talked amazing things about the country and their experience, also learning a different language.
How did you feel when you arrived in the new country?
I felt a lot of fear but at the same time an inexplicable emotion.
How have you been received at the university where you arrived?
The people in charge of academic mobility at PUCRS were always amazing and very kind, in college at least my classmates were a bit closed but my teachers were always very patient and nice to me.
What will you miss most about Mexico?
The FOOD!!! No doubt.
What about the Uni?
I never thought I would say it but to my classmates, it is much more fun to be in my classroom in Mexico than in Brazil.
What is the most exciting thing you have experienced so far in this experience?
To travel to places you don't know and feel the immensity of the world is the most incredible thing, to see how small you are and how huge this world is, the sensation you feel when you step on places you thought you would never know, it's incredible!!!!!
And the hardest part?
I think the hardest thing to do is to manage, you can't have money for everything.
What do you expect as a person and as a professional from this program?
This program helps you grow as a person to change your way of thinking and become more self-sufficient, it opens your mind and you realize what is really worthwhile and as a professional, learning a language is always a plus!
Do you recommend these opportunities provided by Uni to your colleagues?
Very much, if you have the opportunity, do it, I think it will be the best experience of your life!