CYPRUS - Dora

I am a junior student in the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Cyprus. My academic interests mostly focus on the EU Law and especially on human rights as protected by the EU. Since my country has not entered the EU yet, I am currently doing a research into the benefits, which our country will enjoy after its entrance, and especially those having a connection with our political problem.

In September I shall attend courses at the University of Vrije in Belgium as an Erasmus student.

In addition to promoting the European dimension in education, and acquainting students and teachers with the EU, Erasmus offers a big spectrum of new information, ideas and opinions relating not only to the country where I am going, but also to the countries from which other Erasmus-students participate.

I think that by meeting people from different countries I will be able to increase my knowledge of other cultures and civilizations, and to show that people from different backgrounds can live together. This may be a strong message to persons who have the development of the world in their hands.

Furthermore, I expect that I will have the opportunity to learn better the local language and this will help me to associate with people of the country to which I am going and to learn many important things about their culture and life.

Moreover, at the academic level, I think that I will have the chance to come into contact with a new education programme and learn new methods in my effort to improve my academic knowledge.

The most important thing from the Erasmus experience may not be the five months which I will spend in a new country but the friendship which will develop for a long time and the feeling that one has friends in many places.