Amelia is a Sheffield Hallam student who spent a year studying in Università degli studi di Bergamo, Italy as part of her BA Languages with Marketing (Spanish) course; here, she answers a few questions about her time abroad and the experiences that she had!
“I don’t think I can possibly explain how much I have benefitted from this part of my life.
The Erasmus programme was a compulsory component of my degree. I chose to do this in Italy (as Italian is my weaker of the two languages I speak). I went to Bergamo, a city just north-east of Milan where I studied modules of Italian 
language, Spanish Italian and Culture and Business & Marketing. Aside from studying I travelled a lot whilst in Italy and was always learning new things about the culture.
You always hear about all the usual benefits such as learning the language and learning more about the culture but you never hear about how it changes your life. I met so many fantastic people from all over the world, the type of people I want to surround myself with for the rest of my life because they all have the same outlook as me; they’re all doing this for the same reason, because they have a passion to learn more about the world.
Not only that, but you learn a lot about yourself and about life, you learn what sort of things really make you happy and to grasp every moment and hold it tightly. The time on Erasmus is limited so you really appreciate every moment. You really get the sense that life is short and we only have one shot at it so we’ve really got to do everything we want. It’s unreal how much Erasmus has benefitted me, I don’t think I can possibly describe it in words: it’s just something everyone should experience!
You will never regret going on Erasmus! No matter what, if you’re scared you’ll miss your family, boyfriend/girlfriend, whatever it is that is possibly holding you back just ignore it and go… there’s nothing better!”