Two young journalism students, Yashwanth Gollapalli and Akshat Thonangi, had the unique distinction of representing their college at an international exchange programme. The Erasmus+ Credit Mobility, organised and funded by the European Union, is a niche programme that lets students explore foreign institutions. Though many applied for the programme, only Yashwanth and Akshat could crack it. The duo nailed it with their respective SOPs and were selected.
“We feel so fortunate to be a part of the first ever student exchange programme,” shared Yashwanth. After spending five memorable months in Europe, the duo is back. Right from landing at the airport in Budapest and coming back after five months, was a total roller coaster ride amid merriment, euphoria, and even bewilderment. “We learnt bits and pieces of almost every European language. We would shop for groceries using Google Translate as the people in some stores wouldn’t speak English,” they shared.
When asked about the best part of their trip, they say in unison that it’s the friends they made there. They are happy to look at the world map and say they have friends from almost 72 countries. They also picked up some life skills along the way, cooking being an important one. “Sleeping under the Eiffel Tower, missing international buses at Prague in Czech Republic, partying alongside the Zurich River in Switzerland, witnessing the age-old Benz museum at Stuttgart city in Germany, walking the streets of Vatican city in Italy and living some precious moments at Budapest are the things we can never forget,” they added.
The programme not only motivated them to hone their skills, it has also helped them face their fears, understand their capabilities and adapt to new situations. “We also learned what it is like to step out of our comfort zone, mingle with people around, work as a team, compete, contribute, coordinate and make things happen. I feel proud to be a part of such a prestigious programme,” concludes Yashwanth.
— As told to Bansari Trivedi J.
HT06
