Nowadays, most of us live in multinational surroundings. As a result, people from other countries together with different traditions and cultures are becoming more noticeable in our lives. It is likely that during your life or your studies, you will come across with many people who are different to you, or situations that might be unfamiliar to you. It is extremely helpful to know that these experiences can grow you as a person and if you try to understand other cultures, it can become a life lesson that even the best universities cannot teach you.

It can be very easy to stay with what you already know rather than facing new challenges and meet people who are different to you. However, I can assure you that understanding different cultures is one of the most interesting experiences and a step forward to build your personality. Being in a new and unfamiliar environment can be uncomfortable, and confusing sometimes. However, I realized that these moments help me detect my capabilities, find my weaknesses and most important, understand myself better. Moreover, another aspect of getting to know the culture is learning the language which is a completely different experience than learning a language in a classroom.

The past two years, I live abroad and I had the opportunity to see things and gain experiences that I could not do in my home country. I could not imagine that a walk with friends in the streets of Barcelona early in the morning, or a dinner with colleagues could be such an exciting and fulfilling experience. Exploring new cultures is not only going to museums and learning about the history of the county but also discovering its music, trying different foods, do activities that you have never done before, observe how people interact with each other daily and most importantly speak with people. Despite the huge variation in cultures and languages, we are all made of the same stardust and we share similar aspirations.

Before meeting someone you would probably guess that it is more likely that we won’t have so many things in common but after some time you realize that the puzzle of your personalities and cultures intersects so many times that you could not imagine. That's the beauty of different cultures, there is no such thing as good or bad, right and wrong. Each person is different and entitled to an opinion, and a way of life that, as long as it does not violate human rights, it deserves our respect and appreciation.

If you are currently a university student, or a recent graduate and you are willing to leave your comfort zone and start an exciting journey, I encourage you to find a way to travel or live abroad for a while. There are many opportunities with InnoEnergy for master studies in top universities around Europe in the field of sustainable energy and scholarships are offered to high qualified students. Going to a strange and unfamiliar destination is an experience unlike any other.