STORIES

Last October, I made a spontaneous decision and submitted my application two days before the deadline. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I applied to the University of Maribor because I was studying a specific field of study that did not have much collaboration with other institutions at our university. The choices were Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia or Greece. I had already been to the University of Maribor two years ago on a school excursion for one day and I really liked it, so the choice was clear.

In Maribor I met many new people from different parts of Europe and beyond and made friends. I was surprised that Maribor is very popular for Czechs – we didn’t just socialize among ourselves, but within a two weeks we dispersed among the other Erasmus students. At the same time I made many friends among the locals too, the Slovenes are very hospitable and open minded. Comparing Czechs and Slovenians, Czechs in my opinion are rather closed and don’t want to make new acquaintances too much, whereas Slovenians are able to invite you to a three-day camp ten minutes after meeting you without knowing you better (own experience).

Slovenia is a very accessible country for students. I loved the student food vouchers, the MBajk bike network and the cheap transport on weekends and holidays. The prices for accommodation in student dormitories and prices in shops were similar to the Czech Republic, so I didn’t have to save too much money. Also I didn’t have a cultural shock, because Slovenia is really similar to Czechia.

Thanks to Erasmus I stopped being ashamed of my English and started communicating properly, which led to a significant improvement. I also took a beginner’s course in Slovenian, and since I had and have plenty of opportunities to practice Slovenian thanks to my Slovenian friends, I took away another foreign language from Erasmus.

I had many opportunities to travel during my studies, so I visited 7 countries in total – Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

I enjoyed Erasmus very much and gained valuable experience for my life. I recommend everyone who is considering Erasmus to go. There is nothing to lose, only to gain!

Jana Skaláková
Faculty of Arts

Student from: Plzen, Czech Republic
Period of exchange: february 2024 – july 2024