National Team and League; What’s the Connection? Part 1

Part 2 Here

Written by Diarmuid Gillingham
Twitter @ThisisDiarmuid

In recent years UEFA has tried to increase the importance of international football. Such measures include the spreading out of European championship qualification fixtures over a week period rather than just a couple of days and more recently the introduction of the Nations League. The Nations League aims to decrease the number of meaningless friendly games as well as reduce the number of one-sided matches often shared between nations. Except for fans from smaller countries, who are keen to see big names such as Harry Kane, or Antoine Greizman, nobody benefits from seeing a nation like England or France beating San Marino 7-0. The Nation League aims to pit countries of similar standings against each other, by putting them into small groups. On top of this, these groups will have promotion and relegation and can be used as a way for nations to qualify for the next European Championships. Football fans can now look forward to seeing gigantic fixtures such as England vs Spain and Germany vs France. While Irish fans will look forward to seeing the boys in green get their chance to get revenge on Christian Eriksen and Denmark, the cause of the nation's most painful footballing night since that Thierry Henry handball.

With International football potentially becoming more relevant alongside club football again, the purpose of part 1 of this article will be to ask questions such as; Does a strong domestic league automatically mean a strong national team? What national teams are outperforming their domestic league and vice versa? Is there any correlation between the success of a national team and the number of foreign players playing in that country’s, top domestic league? Part two will examine if the economic welfare of a country has a bearing on the standard of football in a country? On top of this I will examine if there is any correlation between the population of a country and the strength of the national side and national leagues. Finally, I will finish with conclusions from both part one and two.

For this study, I am going to use UEFA club coefficients as the base value for Europe’s top 14 countries, as their accuracy of the standard is less questioned than FIFA International rankings as they are measured over a five-year period and do not see dramatic changes after a few surprise results. The top 14 leagues in Europe are as follows:

Do National Teams Do As Well Compared To Their National Club Leagues?

Two national teams that stand out automatically are England and Italy. England sits in 16th place and 11th overall in the FIFA rankings excluding teams from outside of Europe. This is a dramatic drop when we consider that the Premier League is the second strongest league at the moment. The Italian national side is also struggling sitting in 14^th place.  On top of this, the Azzurri have failed to qualify for their first World Cup in 60 years. A game which was the catalyst for an earlier than expected international retirement of Juventus stopper Gianluigi Buffon. In 6th space, the Spanish national team is also slightly underperforming in comparison to La Liga, but perhaps the Spanish national team can be forgiven for taking the foot off the gas somewhat having won 3 major tournaments in recent times. Finally, the Ukrainian national team is struggling to stay on a par with the Ukrainian National League regarding international standing. The Ukrainian national team has a current FIFA ranking of 35th while the Ukrainian National League sits 8th with UEFA rankings. Much of this can be explained by the success of Shakhtar Donetsk who continually do well in Europe by buying talented Brazilian players and selling them on for big profits. Players such as Willian (Chelsea), Fernandinho (Manchester City) and Douglas Costa (Juventus) are notable examples.

 

There are also many national teams that are out performing their national leagues on the club scene. These countries tend to be small but have big talent pools of players who play abroad. The most obvious example is Belgium. The Belgium national team currently sits 5th in the FIFA rankings and has held 1st in recent times. But thanks to the Premier League, in particular, many of their stars such as Eden Hazard (Chelsea), and Kevin De Bryuan (Manchester City) play weekly at the highest level. While the Premiera League in Portugal is more competitive than the Belgian league on the European stage. Although it is important not to forget to impact the outlier, that is Cristiano Ronaldo. Even with the five-time Ballon D'or winner in their ranks, few gave Portugal a chance of winning the 2016 European championships. The Polish national team, like Portugal, can owe their high ranking to one player in their shape of Robert Lewandowski, meaning they could be an outsiders choice to go all the way this summer in Russia.

Part 2 can be found here. 

10 things you notice after coming home from abroad

As I write this blog post, it is two months to the day since I returned to Ireland from my year in Germany. With that in mind, I decided to put a list together of what emotions, feelings, and realizations have hit me over that time. I wanted to write this piece about two weeks before starting University again, but at the time I found my mind was still abroad and it was too early to write such a blog post in a manner that would reflect reality.

1) Your Body and Mind Will Feel Out Of Sink 

When leaving your newly adopted home, you say many goodbyes followed by many hellos. You pack your things up and then unpack again while dealing with annoying and over-crowded airports in between. All of these actions would suggest that you are home for good, but it simply takes your brain time to fully understand that you’re not going back. Even if it is just that one percent of you that is not willing to accept the fact yet.

2) Your Heart Won't Break But It Will Be Divided

Before moving to Germany, I had never lived out of Cork. I was very used to the fact that 90% of the people I hold close to me lived within 30 minutes of me. So even moving abroad and suddenly having more relationships in a different place to where you are at the moment is a dramatic change of events. If you do live in a foreign country, it is likely you will find others in the same position as you. Because of this when you and all your new friends go home, you will suddenly have connections in many cities and countries. While this does take some getting used to, it is wonderfully exciting.

3) You Will Be a Bit Bored Hearing Only One Language 

When abroad, one of the first challenges you will likely have to face is a new language or at least an additional dialect. At times this can be very frustrating. I remember one evening in particular after a Spanish exam. It finished at 8pm and I had been in classes since 9am. Naturally, I was very tired and realistically just wanted to go home to bed. But on the journey, I was joined by four German classmates, and obviously, we were speaking German. Speaking to four native speakers at once and feeling like you are contributing to a conversation to a high standard can be difficult in your best moments. I remember just standing there thinking  “please don’t ask me anything, I’m too tired to understand a word you're saying right now” Despite such moments I enjoyed speaking and hearing German and even languages I did not understand at all. You do miss that when you come home.

4) Everything At Home Changes Yet At The Same Time Nothing Changes 

When you return home for the first time after an extended period, it does feel like the home you knew is gone. Maybe a few friends have moved elsewhere, a few others are now in relationships, or perhaps you have a new neighbor. At first, there is a little sense of panic, which you have missed out on so much and a feeling that you will never catch with everything. But after a couple of weeks without realizing it, you will have seen many of your friends at home and have gotten used to being at home again. All the panic for nothing.

5) You Start To Wonder If The Whole Year Was Just a Part Of Your Imagination

Facebook is a massive factor in this. With facebook memories popping up on our screens now, its hard not to get a little nostalgic at times. Only yesterday I was reminded of the fact, that, time last year I was having the time of my life in Copenhagen. While this year, just like two years ago and so on, I was at home studying. Or in Cork at the very least. The point is a year abroad pushes you out of your routine that you build at home around your friends and family. I already find myself asking myself, “did I really see all those places?” It’s very surreal.

6) Coming Home Will Feel Like a Step Backwards  

Admittedly, this is something I had not thought of myself until another friend who went away for the year said it was what she was feeling. In most parts of many peoples lives, and especially when you are younger, you’re always moving onto something new and grander. For example, you leave school to go to university. You stop using the bus to get a car. Your relationships get more grown up and so one. Most of the time if you look at where you were a year ago and where you are now, we all grow up little by little.

So moving back to Ireland, back to the same university, only speaking one language, and maybe most decisively moving back home all felt like I was going backwards in life. Sometimes as people we can stagnate or move forward at a snail's pace which can be frustrating. But having so much evidence pointing towards the fact you have gone backwards is doubly disappointing. With a year abroad you grow a lot and at least for myself the person I was in Germany and the one I am in Ireland are different. As I write this I am making a conscious effort to be the more friendly and fun person I was in Germany and not the stress ball that left Ireland in September 2016.

7) You Quickly Realize Who Will Stay In Touch And Who Won’t 

In a previous post, I wrote about “convenience friends” and how we are all littered with them in our lives. A convenience friend is somebody who is only our “friend” because we see them every day. One of the greatest and liberating things about living away from home for a year was finding who cared that I was gone. That time destroyed a lot of the grey and made it obvious who was there for and who wasn't. I have fewer friends in Ireland now but I know I can rely on all of them and that is a fantastic feeling. I understand people are busy, but when somebody texts to see how are getting on now and then, message you on your birthday or make the time to skype you, it makes such a difference. It’s the little things that matter the most. So right now I’m experiencing that same thing with Erasmus/exchange people, and it’s fantastic. Sometimes it can be overwhelming trying to keep in touch with everybody, but as they say, actions speak louder than words and the process of keeping in touch with who really matters to you gets simpler with time.

8) The Travel Bug is Here to Stay 

Once I got home from Germany I was happy to be home. For the first few weeks or maybe only days the idea of going on a big adventure again was not in any way appealing. But over the last two months that feeling has evaporated. The travel bug has bitten again and I am more than ready for my next adventure and to start exploring an increasing small world yet again.

9) Social Media Is so much more interesting Than Before 

After doing an exchange year, as already mentioned everybody you tend to meet goes back to their home countries. This fact makes your social media feed so much enjoyable. One moment you are watching independence rallies in Barcelona, a second later a stunning landscape in France and a minute after that a stunning cityscape of Chicago. Having so many people you know personally on your Facebook feed living all the world works as a free guide to the world. If you were not addicted to facebook before, you probably are now.

10) You See everything In a Different Way

I’ve written a lot in the text about change. You do change a lot, and because of that even the people and places that are most familiar to you can feel different. On top of this, you feel different about yourself. Over the time what is important to you will change, your ambitions will change, and how you act will change. Every thought is different. It is often said, that travel is the best teacher because you don’t learn about the world you experience it. Each experience in life shapes us differently, but with travel, those changes are quicker. As cheesy as it sounds you come to a citizen of the world and not just your home country. You won’t entirely fit in at home anymore. In fact, you won’t entirely fit in anywhere. And guess what, that’s okay.

Thanks so much for reading.


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Is University Worth it?

Education is something that is important to all of us. Whether you’re somebody who didn’t finish high school or somebody who did go to University and not only got their bachelor but masters and PhD as well. Our time in education plays a massive role in how we see ourselves, our careers and much of the world around us. It is education where we got some of our first experiences of friendship and love as well as confusion and worry about our future. In this piece, I am going to speak about my own experiences in University and discuss both the pros and cons of attending an institution that can be seen as the most important decision in many people’s lives. Finally, I will finish with a conclusion. 

Personal Story, 

First of all, I have never been and I will likely never be an "A student." For the most part, I am a straight “C” student (55% to 70% ).  In secondary school (6 years between the ages of 12 and 18 in Ireland) I received maybe, 5 As (85% or higher). All of which came in English with one exception. That came in a business class. Those grades have followed me into University where I study Economics and German. Those grades may seem unimpressive to many and that conclusion is fair.  Despite this, such grades have never come easily for me. I am not the most “intelligent” person in the strictly academic sense. I will be the first person to admit that. In order to be a “band average student,” I have always had to work incredibly hard.

Very often, like so many others in school and even now in University, I have experienced long periods of near unrelenting frustration trying to memorise many facts, figures and dates over the years. To this day the overwhelming thoughts of “This is useless”, “I don’t find this interesting”, “I won’t need this in my future” “I can’t believe I got up at 6:30 for this” and so on, cross my mind. I have always felt that I was learning facts, not to learn about life but simply to pass a test. Many of the reasons I have worked very hard, for good grades are, not positive ones. It is not so I can improve myself but rather, to keep a teacher off my back or be getting told I need to pass a certain amount of credits to pass a year in University. The days of when you are a child and you and I would be constantly asking questions because we were naturally curious about everything is something that is gradually thought out of us in school unless we make a conscious and constant effort to stay curious.

Despite the previous statements, I have learned a lot at school that I have found very useful. I have for example I have some inspiring teachers that have pushed my interests in ways I could have never imaged. The best example of this is the fact when I was 17, I had the very arrogant view of “Why would I ever learn another language? Everybody speaks English anyway” Now at 21, as I write this I have lived in Germany 10 months. I have spoken German almost every day during that time. On top of this, I am now learning Spanish and a large part of me is starting to feel, that may not be the end of my language adventure so to speak. While the slight majority of this piece will favour the opinion of University is not as important as our society thinks, it would be naïve and narrow sighted of me to say it is a waste of your time and money. 

I can say without a doubt that the fact I am educated as a whole has helped me develop so much as a person and I am so grateful is have had the experience. Although I would be lying if I said I felt the same way about University. In fact, I can say for sure if it was not for my Exchange/Erasmus program I would think the whole experience was not worth the time or money I have put in.

So now I will argue both cases on "Should one attend University" and then finish with a conclusion.

Pro’s of University 

1.    Signalling

While some jobs require a degree. For example, one could not become a doctor without studying medicine for many years. This is totally understandable, as well as other fields such as psychology and law. As already suggested when it comes to business, humanities, arts and trades, we really do need to ask ourselves is University really required? At a starting point we could at least ask, does it need to be so expensive? This is something that will be spoken about later. For now, we need to ask the question what does a degree give somebody, who could have learned everything they learned alone? In a sentence, a degree is a statement of work ethic to employers. As I University student I can say with great confidence that a University degree is a lot of painstaking work. One has to make many sacrifices to achieve it. For many people, they will follow a career path that has nothing to do with what they studied at University. But a degree is a great signal to an employer. It suggests a certain level of intelligence, a certain work ethic and ability to follow orders well. All in which are qualities employers crave in new employees. Measuring such skills can be difficult for an interviewer. Yes, it’s great to work in a field in which you studied but for some, all a degree is a signal rather than a qualification or key to their chosen career path.

2.    Social Life and Personal Development

University is, without a doubt, a great place to make friends as an 18-22-year-old. It is easy to find people with similar interest and hobbies to yourself. Wheather that is through sports teams, societies or what you study many people make friends for life at University. University for many is an opportunity to move out for the first time and often discover a new city. This space gives one to really discover themselves in an environment less demanding and cut throat than working life. Time studying at a third level institute essential gives much more time to grow up, discover who they are and where they want to go. Very few 18 years olds leaving school and know what they want to do with their lives and studying can be seen as a way of delaying that decision and helping students move in the right direction.

3.    Earn More and Higher Job Satisfaction

For this point, I will point to an informative video I found on Youtube written by Bite Size Psych. One of the main reasons to study at University is the reward of earning more money than somebody who does not and there for living in theory, a more comfortable life. It is reported that people with a bachelor degree earn 60% more than people who left education after high school. Which is $700,000/€613,739 (July 7th, 2017)  more over a lifetime. People with a  bachelor degree are also three times less likely to be unemployed and 16% more likely to be satisfied with their job. These numbers are something to consider when deciding if one should go to University or not.

 Con’s of University 

1.    Cost of University 

From personal experience, I can say with confidence that a four-year bachelor degree in Ireland will cost you €12,000. Which a similar degree in England will cost you £36,000. Finally, according to TopUniversities.com fees in the USA can range from $3,500 to $35,000 per year depending on where you study. This is even before considering transport, housing, utility and food expenses. The bottom line is, it can be incredibly expensive to study. This can put unmanageable pressure on families. Which must be very frustrating if your son or daughter wants to study something that really could be trained or learned quicker if not better with a work placement. Why does society insist that somebody who is a talented, self-thought musician needs a degree in music? Or why do we insist computer programmers who have thought themselves programs such as Java need a computer science degree? Many people will achieve more on their own than they will from a lecture. As a University student, I don’t think a day goes by where I don’t hear the sentence “I did not go to my lecture as I can learn it better on my own.” Sadly that statement can be backed up by every University student that has ever lasted more than a few weeks. It really makes you wonder.

2.    Could I Achieve My Dream Goal Without a Degree?

As already suggested. There are so many people out there who right now are doing a degree that they simply do not need to be doing. For example, nowadays in Ireland, you need to get a four-year degree you want to be a nurse. If you go back a few generations a degree to be a nurse was not a necessity. While the reasoning behind this is fair. Patients do need to be surrounded by the best to help them. Nonetheless, it does highlight the point that much of the reason many of us go to Unversity is not that the skills we learn there for a specific career can only be learned in a University but rather society has decided that is the only way to learn. So often we could learn more by simply pursuing something we are interested in. On a personal basis, I don’t study English in University yet I run two blogs. I have never got any sort of formal training in photography yet my photography is now at a professional standard. Even more impressive than this a good friend of mine has self- thought himself Spanish to the point he could read the first Harry Potter. Writing articles, photography and learning a language can all be self- thought. It goes without saying not everybody can be self-thought and many people respond much better to being thought something my somebody else. But, we have to ask the question. Why has society decided young people need to go to University for almost everything?

3.    University kills creativity and intelligence

This point is very much inspired by two Ted talks. The first of these “How School Makes Kids Less Intelligent” by Eddy Zwong and secondly “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” by Sir Ken Robinson. In the first talk, Eddy talks about,  how in schools all students do is “accumulate facts”. They are told what to think and not to “think outside of the box. Yes in schools student’s academic intelligence goes up but the same can most certainly not their creative intelligence. He talks about how entering start up business contests helped him develop real life skills like networking. Finally, in reference to the idea that every student should go to University, he says that “We should redefine what we see as successful”

The second talk from Sir Ken Robinson is a very humorous talk that tackles the issues posed by this piece perfectly. With the help of a few personal stories he talks about the world where “We are now running educational systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make” and with that, makes the controversial statement that “creativity is as important in education as literacy” If we know anything about intelligence, it is that it is “diverse” “dynamic” and “distinct” yet every student is examined and thought the exact same way in the education system. They are thought what and how to think. He argues that “creativity is thought out of us” rather than something we stumble upon. Again students have thought that “mistakes are the worst thing you can make” yet “If kids don’t know they will have a go. They are not frightened of been wrong” I don’t mean to say been wrong and being creative are the same thing, but what we do know if, if you’re not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original” Finally he comes out with a mind blowing statistic which is as follows “In the next 30 years more people with graduate from education than in our entire history” We get the degree to stand out but if everybody has a degree. Does that not just totally devalue its meaning?

Closing thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this piece.  Education is a topic that stirs the pot with most people including myself. It is a very grey subject that will be debated for many decades to come. But what is a certainty is that the education system while useful is flawed. It favours certain types of intelligence and can leave others feeling less worthy and lacking direction. Education is also a golden ticket for many. In the end, every situation is different and that is the key to this. Education is a personal journey and using it to achieve your goals can be done in many ways. As a society, we need to expand the box and possibly shatter it all together. University degree or not, the people who succeed in life are the ones who know what they want to achieve and work their asses off to do it. That’s what I have learned.

Below I will put the links to a few articles and videos that inspired this piece and may interest you. 

Video 

Youtube 

Bite Size Psch: What Every Student Should Know About University

Ted

Eddy Zwong: How school makes kids less intelligent 

Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kills Creativity?

Reading Materials 

Top Universities: How Much Does It Cost to Study 

Financial Times Are Universities Worth it?

The Guardian: More Than a Third of UK Graduates Regret Attending University

10 Tips To Help You Start Your Twitter Account

I will be the first to admit it, Twitter is not as easy as it looks. If you look at it on the surface it can be hard to find your particular part of it all. Unlike Facebook where new friends, pages and groups are constantly suggested, Twitter can sometimes be a one-man island. Yes, twitter has the “who to follow” feature but these are usually celebrities who are unlikely to follow you back at first. Without the right strategies, Twitter can be a very lonely place.

The second reason many of us struggle with Twitter if the feeling that we need to be tweeting at least 3-4 times a day. Something that is uncommon on other social media platforms. Whether we admit it or not this can be a bit overwhelming. There is nobody out there saying we actually need to do this but at the same time it’s not too hard. A tweet has a limit of 140 characters, many of us would text that before leaving the house in the morning.

What I often hear is “How can I tweet every day, when I have nothing to tweet about?” This is one of the most common reasons for people soon losing interest in Twitter. Yes, this is a problem. Not having anything to tweet about is the social media equivalent to being on a debate team of a language you don’t understand. Like a debate, social media and the web as a whole is all about trading ideas. So here are 10 ways you can be inspired to tweet more and getting your twitter life up and running.

Step 1: Follow your friends, family and co-workers

As mentioned above Twitter can be a lonely place, without friends, family and workmates. So why not change that? Ask people on other social media platforms to follow you. Ask your friends when you meet them in person. Ask the postman, it doesn't really matter. The idea is to follow people you are interested in and in return are interested in you. A common shortcut to finding people you know on Twitter can be done on the site itself. All it takes is one account to get you started. This technique is to go into your friend's account and see who they are following. They are more than likely following people you also know. Now that you have found them, follow them and suddenly watch your network grow. A piece of advice would be to change your profile picture to a picture of yourself just so people know it’s you.

Step 2: Follow celebrities you are interested in

Now that you have found every Tom, Dick, and Harry from your own circle, it’s now time to go further and take things to the global stage. If you are a budding entrepreneur you can follow Richard Branson (@richardbranson). Sports fans can follow maybe famous sports stars such as WayneRooney (@WayneRooney) and LeBron James(@KingJames). Not to mention hundreds of music stars and actors. If all that stardust was not enough for you why not take a trip into space with NASA (@NASA). There is something for everybody in the world of Twitter and all this can be done by just typing a name into the search bar.

Step 3: Get news instantly

Social media is often seen as a time consumer, but when it comes to news and current affairs Twitter will give you a chance to get news instantly. First, we had word of mouth, then newspapers. Next, it was websites and now social media. By following newspapers such as The Guardian (@Guardian) and news stations such as the BBC (@BBCBreaking) information will be tweeted in your home page. You don’t even need to go to the effort of looking at the website anymore. You can simply click on the link of any tweet that peaks your interest.

Step 4: Figure out what your niche is

You have followed everybody you feel you have an interest in. With that, you are now getting bulldozed with a lot of great content. At this stage, you may not have realised what your niche is, in other words where your interests lie. Have a look at the tweets coming into your home page. What themes and topics are popping up most often? When you figure this out you are ready to join the conversation and get tweeting.

Step 5: Have your own voice

There are thousands if not millions of interesting people on Twitter. All of them are trading ideas and opinions. It is now time to get involved yourself. You can start by Re-tweeting others but in the long run, it is better to tweet yourself every now and then. Find an interesting article? Tweet it. See a funny picture? Tweet it. You get the idea. There will always be room for a personal element to a social media account, but be careful what information you share about yourself. It is advised not to tweet out your address, phone number or travel plans. It would be best to hold back posting those pictures until you get home from the week in Italy.

Step 7: Get involved with hashtags

A hashtag is simply a way for people to search for tweets that share a common topic. A fun fact is that they are not case sensitive. Hashtags have three main purposes. First of all, they can be used as an alternative way of telling people what you are talking about. For example instead of tweeting “I really enjoyed the Kodaline concert. You can tweet “I really enjoyed the concert last night. #Kodaline” By using the hashtag, your tweet will be visible to anybody who searches “Kodaline” on Twitter even if they do not follow you. Thirdly a hashtag (#) gives you the opportunity to join the conversations of trending topics anywhere in the world. Again this opens your account up to people who do not follow you.

Step 8: Use your mobile

According to the Wall Street Journal Twitter account, 86% of Twitter users use the site via mobile devices. Twitter mobile is very easy to use as tweets are no more than 140 characters. Even the smallest of screens will not become overwhelmed and overcrowded by content. You can also read all of your personal/direct messages without leaving the app. A criticism of social media rival Facebook.

Step 9: Add more colour

It’s not a must but after a while, a bland looking profile can get a bit boring for both you and your followers. Twitter gives you an option of changing your cover photo (the photo behind your profile picture) as well as changing the theme colour. You can take this further but even these few steps can jazz up a profile in a very positive manner.

Step 10: Enjoy

Twitter is all about being social, and usually, something social is a lot of fun. So go out and tweet till your heart's content, make a few friends and just enjoy everything one of the world’s most popular websites have to offer.

Exchange Students: Get the Most Out Of Your Year Abroad

1.    Sort out the essentials before arriving.

This may not sound like the most exciting advice in the world, but that makes our first piece of advice any less important. Before arriving in a new country make you know exactly where you will be living and how to get there. There are few experiences, more stressful than arriving in a new country and not having any idea where you are going with a few suitcases weighing you down in the process. This is even more vital is you’re doing your exchange in a country in which you don’t speak the language fluently. So before leaving home to make sure you have the address written down and have details notes on how the local bus or train system will get you there. The third major thing to remember is to make sure your mobile phone and sim card will be useable. This can be useful for Google maps and simply telling your family you arrived in one piece. Finally, speak to your bank in your home country to make sure your card will be usable is your new destination. Even with this knowledge telling the bank you are moving abroad for a year can save a lot of hassle. It is totally normal for banks to freeze accounts if there is some unusual activity on an account. In other words, without informing the bank it may only be a matter of time before your supply of money is blocked, a situation in which everybody would want to avoid.

2.    Get the balance between meeting local and fellow exchange students right.

One of the most enjoyable and important parts of studying abroad is to meet people who like you (or at least we hope) who are also interested in learning new languages and about new cultures from all around the world. The experience can open your mind up in so many ways of thinking as you come into contact with so many types of people you would never have met before. You will make some great friends. Some will last a few months, others a lifetime. Exchange students are the easiest to meet as everybody is in the same boat as you. They arrive knowing a few people and often nobody. Like you, they are desperate to start building a social circle and regaining a sense of normality and structure in their lives. They are also the group of people who will have more free time than others and for the most part, will do all they can to enjoy the free time. We are not saying that is a bad thing. You just simply must find a balance between the two. As a native English speaker, it is very easy to fall into the trap of spending all your time with other exchange students and never practising your language skills. While local students are more difficult to get to know they will really help make your experience worthwhile. As an exchange student, you can spend so much time learning about other cultures far away you don’t really consume the one you are surrounded in, in the very moment. This is the quickest way to improve your language skills and who knows you may just do enough to encourage your new best local friend to do the exchange in your city.

3.    Choose your friends wisely and in small numbers.

No, I am not suggesting you make five friends on the first day and not bother to meet anybody else. In fact, I am saying the opposite. For the first few months go to as many social events as possible. Meet as many people as you can and give every new person a chance. But as you move further and further into your time abroad and in turn move closer to coming to when you will go home again, start to identify the people you have connected the best with. Start spending more and more time with them. Again, this does not mean you ignore everybody else. It just means be realistic. Despite best intentions, it will be impossible to keep in contact with all the friends you make while abroad. The best evidence of this is that you will soon realise how difficult it is to keep up with all your friends back home while abroad. But unlike your friends at home, you won’t be returning to all your new international friends after 12 months. In truth, many you will most likely not see again sadly. So, the further time goes on, in your mind choose who of these new friends you want and realistically feel you will be able to keep in contact with and focus on them. This is the best way to keep your experience going long after you come home.

4.    Be/Find Yourself

Whether you are at home or abroad the hope must be, that one can be themselves and that we surround ourselves with friends who know who are we are and accept and like us for who are we are. The trouble is we often lose our edge as people in order to fit it and maintain and create new friendships. At home, the world is a smaller and more permanent place. So, we hide our true selves to a point. Most often it is something small like “that music group you secretly love but would never admit to” When socialising with exchange groups there is an automatic acceptance they people are different to ourselves simply because they are from somewhere different to ourselves. This setting gives you as an exchange student a great opportunity to let down any walls that may be standing. The experience will teach you to be more honest with yourself and others and overall a happier person. The key is, to realise you can do the exact same back home even if it a little bit more difficult to do so.

5.    Don’t live with people you know from home

If I was to take this advice further I would say “Do your year abroad alone” While often this is can be seen as a step too far and often simply impossible to do depending on your program. To get the best out of your year abroad you really should not spend much people time with people from your home country. This is simply because you will be far less likely to experience new things. Again, this is unrealistic. It is easy to get homesick while abroad and spending time with friends from your country or city can make that a lot easier. But a line must be drawn somewhere, otherwise, you are defeating the purpose of going abroad. If you think going abroad for a year with your five best friends and doing everything together is going to help you really embrace a new culture think again. All you are doing is wasting your money as in reality you’re not going to do anything you would or could not do at home. Whether it is living, working, studying or partying with people from other nationalities don’t let the fact you have friends from home stop you from people many new people as possible. If you have open minded friends from home they will want to do the same and you won’t waste the year in any way.

6.    Travel, Travel, Travel

This can somewhat depend on where you are coming from and where you are doing your exchange. As somebody living in Ireland away from mainland Europe, living in Germany and suddenly having the ability to visit so many new places without having to fly is quite amazing. If you are an exchange student no matter where you go on your exchange you will most likely suddenly living next many amazing places that only a few days earlier were so far away. Take advantage of this and see as much as you can. Since you will be in your new city for at least a few months it may be good to invest in some way of getting around cheaply like a bus pass. This will further help you see how small the world truly is. You will have a lot of fun and if you book things in advance, travel can be done cheaply.

7.    Study Something New 

Sadly many degrees are quite restricted. Once you have picked your major, degrees and career paths can quickly become very tunnel visioned. This is why in particular studying abroad is great. It gives you a chance to study something new and potentially discover new talents and interests. Even if you are under strict rules on what you can and cannot study, seeing your studies from a different perspective can be very insightful and rewarding. Especially in business, history and social sciences where views and perspectives can differ greatly from country to country. You will return home a much more rounded student. So my advice is to study something new and just see where it takes you. It may be the last time you have a genuine choice is what you study.

Did I leave something out? If so leave it in the comments below