Student Blog: Meet Erasmus student Tania Esparza Martínez

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Written by Tania, Erasmus student 2019-2020

The Erasmus experience is an opportunity that European universities give you as a result of an agreement between them. It consists of experiencing half a course or an entire course at a university in another country of the European Union. In my case, I come from Spain and I chose to study my third year of the Psychology degree at Staffordshire University.

An Erasmus is an experience at an academic and personal level. It allows you to enjoy university life from a different perspective, and it gives you opportunities that the university system of your country probably doesn’t have, which can differentiate you from the rest in the future.

The first days are a non-stop, so I recommend to arrive a few days before to have time to see the city, familiarise yourself with the means of transport and settle in what will be your home for a few months. After those days, in my case, I had two weeks of “welcome week” at the university, one as an international student and another as a Staffordshire student. In those weeks, I got to know the campus and meet many other students, some international and other locals that helped me a lot to adapt. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the Staffordshire University staff for having made this adaptation process so easy and enjoyable and for helping me with everything I needed, especially Romina, my tutor, who is an excellent professional.

Another great opportunity is the extracurricular activities, and in Staffordshire University they have a great variety of societies that are clubs created by the students themselves to meet people with their same interests or hobbies. They range from sports clubs to clubs where they organize trips to visit the country’s various amusement parks or where they hold meetings to watch movies or record short films. I was interested in the Cheerleading team, and even though I had never considered being a cheerleader, I found it exciting and fun, so I joined the team and discovered a sport that I love. Let the experience surprise you, be open to things you didn’t expect, or you hadn’t thought about because look at me, we compete in nationals!

As a last tip, I will tell you to be yourself, to enjoy to the fullest and to strive with studies and language, it is enriching to show yourself that you can. Take advantage of every moment and make mistakes if necessary. Travel a lot and get to know every corner of your city until you find your favourite. And most importantly, live it like it’s gonna happen in two minutes because I’m sure that’s the feeling we’ll get when we get back home.

The Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University’s £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent. The department is home to the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research, a large and active group of psychologists, PhD students and researchers conducting work into a variety of psychological disciplines and topic areas.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please click here.