The Erasmus Experience

The Erasmus Experience

Present, former and future students of the European Union grant program talk about the highs and lows of studying abroad in Europe, as 180,000 people do every year in 4,000 universities of 31 countries.


By Emily Eckhous

Brian Foody stops to think for a moment and scratches his head. He smiles and says profoundly, “You realize on a human level we’re the same, and we can get close to people even if they are from different environments and backgrounds.”
Foody, 20, from Castleconnor, Ireland, reflects on his experience studying in Copenhagen, Denmark. He explains via Skype he is studying at the Copenhagen Business School through the Erasmus program. He is one of 180,000 students in Europe who choose to study in another European country through Erasmus each year.
The European Union founded this grant program in 1987 and named it after theologian Desiderius Erasmus from Rotterdam. Erasmus is also an acronym for European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students.
Desiderius Erasmus, the program’s inspiration, lived from 1465 to 1536 and studied and traveled across Europe in places including Paris and Cambridge. The EU named the program after him to reflect the importance of learning inside and outside of the classroom, similar to his studies.
Nearly 2 million students have participated in the Erasmus program since its foundation. The large annual budget of over 440 million euros helps students subsidize part of their study abroad program in more than 4,000 universities of 31 countries.
“You get a grant from the EU,” Foody says. He explains he put the grant towards traveling to Copenhagen and finding a place to live. “I had to organize my own accommodation and transport.”
One of the essential pillars of the Erasmus program is to give students an opportunity to live independently, similar to Foody’s experience in Copenhagen. They are responsible for finding their own housing and making sure their credits transfer back to their universities at home.
“I had to organize my own subjects and make sure they corresponded to my subjects at home so my grades could be transferred. Those two things were pretty tricky,” Foody says.
Lucía Cubel, 24, from Seville, Spain, is studying in Rome through the Erasmus program as well. Like Foody, she mentions she also had to find an apartment and pick her classes independently.
Both Foody and Cubel had to take care of their international documentation on their own as well. “I had to do all the administrative work to stay in Italy. Here it’s called Codice Fiscale, similar to the Spanish Social Security ID,” Cubel says.
Administrative work can be difficult for students on the Erasmus program, and consequentially can hinder their experiences. Foody tells a story about classmates stranded in Paris with nowhere to live. They could not attend their classes at the university because they did not have an apartment.
He adds, “I think the program should enforce rules to ensure accommodations be looked after. Here in Copenhagen it’s no problem because they are really well-organized, but I’d say a lot of other universities can screw you over.”
Similar situations can create conflict for Erasmus students. Grappling with complete independence in another country can result in failures and incompletion of a program. However, there are businesses seeking to help Erasmus students find apartments, enroll in classes, manage their course load and adjust to everyday life abroad.
Beatrice Clemson works for the business AM Transnational, located in the Bami neighborhood of Seville, which helps international students get comfortable when they first arrive in town. “We help students organize their stays in Seville by searching for apartments, choosing classes at the universities, tutoring for homework assignments and organizing cultural activities,” Clemson says.
Foody says adaptation can be difficult. “At first it’s exciting when you arrive in a new country with new people to meet, and you get caught up in the experience because it’s new and exciting and fresh. Then later on, things start to slow down a bit and you start to get used to life. You can get a bit lonely.”
Loneliness and insecurity are common feelings among students studying abroad independently. Oliver Schlienz, now 34 years old, shares a similar outlook to Foody on his yearlong Erasmus study abroad experience in Seville in 1999. He explains adapting to a new culture and learning to speak a new language can be difficult at times. He adds that one of the disadvantages of his experience was that “there was little contact among Erasmus students and Spanish students.”
In spite of the difficulties of living independently in a foreign country, Schlienz says the Erasmus program is life changing. “The microcosm of Erasmus with people from all over Europe is a rich atmosphere and I can only recommend it.”
Not everyone is lucky enough to have positive Erasmus experiences like Foody, Cubel and Schlienz.
Alicia Sánchez Flores, 21, from Seville, jumped through hoops to secure a spot to study in the United Kingdom next year. “Erasmus gave me a grant to study in Sheffield, in England. There were five spots available in the program. I was the last person of five people grades-wise, and Sheffield was my first choice of five destinations. I was preparing my papers for a month or so thinking I was going to Sheffield when my coordinator called me on the phone and told me that there was a mistake and there were only four spots available, not five,” Sánchez Flores says.
She explains she had to argue with the International Relations department of her university to find a spot in a different program in the United Kingdom. However, Erasmus could not place her in her second choice program in Cardiff, Wales.
“I had to go to the International Relations department, the director of the university, everyone. There were two spots in Cardiff, and if there were three I could have been accepted. However, the students who were accepted to Cardiff had worse grades than me. But they don’t care about that. If you think about this, it’s really unfair, because I have better grades than them, I should have priority.”
Much to her dismay, Erasmus placed her in the Liverpool program for next year. She is looking forward to studying in the United Kingdom but is frustrated with the program for refusing to accommodate her wants and needs. “I think some people think Erasmus is a perfect experience, but I think Erasmus has two faces in this context,” she complains.
Sánchez Flores insists Erasmus should have given her priority treatment for her hard work in school. However, she remains positive and hopes she will enjoy studying English in the United Kingdom. With some uncertainty she adds, “I hope it’s a good experience. The people I know that studied abroad through Erasmus have been very happy they did the program, and they said they would repeat.”
Despite the obstacles some students face when they apply to an Erasmus grant, past and present participants can assure them they will have an unforgettable, positive experience, as Cubel explains. “You can meet new people, learn about a new culture and language, grow as a person and value the little things that make you happy.”
For some people, Erasmus can be even more than a study abroad program. Schlienz explains he met his future wife while he was in Seville. “We were an ‘Erasmus couple,’ and without the program we probably would not have met.”