"You spend so much time with other people, you spend so much time trying get people to like you, you know other people more you know yourself, you study them, you know about them, you wanna hang out like them, you wanna be just like them, and you know why? You invest so much time on them you don't know who you are. I challenge you to spend time by yourself. It's necessary that you get the losers out of your life, if you want to live your dream."

I was watching a video on Facebook, when I heard this paragraph and I wanted to quote it because I couldn't agree more. I always see people comparing themselves to other people. It is time to live our own life, to do it the way we want to and let people live theirs the way they want to.

"Did you see what he achieved? I wish I could do something like that.."
Who says you can't do it yourself? Who says he is better? Just do your own thing, if you want something, work on it and make it happen. I'm sure the person you are comparing yourself with didn't achieve it out of nothing. We just see the best of people, we see what they want us to see. If we knew what they went through, I'm sure we would love our own life a little more.



On the other hand, there is people who says shit about you just because they think they are cooler than you. Just know that they are as cool as you are. Don't choose your host country because it is cool, because it is the place a cool person would choose. Go somewhere YOU would like to see and explore. Live the culture, don't go there to drink the umpteenth beer, get drunk and screw the whole year up because your organization sends you home earlier. Have fun, of course, but don't make breaking the rules your first purpose on exchange. I don't wanna be the partypooper or to sound like your mom, I'm saying this because a lot of people get caught and I'm sure it was no fun to end their exchange earlier.
I spent my whole summer before departure trying to convince my parents to let me go on exchange, they raised the money and they finally signed my application. Living in the USA was my dream, was it worth it to ruin everything over a beer? Let me tell you, it is not. Drink it when you are beyond sure you are not risking to be sent home, then drink as much as you want and have fun. And first of all, YOU have to decide if you want to drink it, don't do it because they push you. Once you get caugh you can't say "I did it because they did" but you have to take your responsibility.

Be the person you wanna be, don't do what society wants you to do. As exchange students we should promote diversity, we need to understand that what is different from us isn't always wrong or bad. You don't need to be accepted by people, people need to love your real you, and not make a copy of themselves.

// ps click on “Follow” (right hand-side) so you won't miss future updates //
- Cris

The first thing I thought when I was at the airport getting ready to go back home after my exchange was that I lived the best experience of my life so far. However, I promised myself to keep getting out of my comfort zone and live my life the way I want. This is why I don't fancy staying in one place for my whole life! In my opinion, life isn't meant to be lived in one place only. I don't want life to pass by neither to regret things when I get older.

Last summer when I returned home I was happy to see family and friends, to be greeted by my dog and to walk through my hometown, but it only lasted a few days. My parents thought I did not like home anymore, that I had a problem with them or something. Reality is that I was missing my exchange year badly. Wasn't it understandable? I couldn't just pretend that 11 months never happened. So yes, I needed time to settle once again, even if we are speaking about home. I had to accept the fact that after one year of new experiences, I went back to my old and boring routine. 

No one seemed to care, the only thing they cared about was having me back, they didn't even consider that I was hurting. When they did realize something was wrong, they told me to cheer up because hey "you will have the opportunity to go back and visit!". 

A tip for you all: if you ever have to comfort a former exchange student dealing with depression, do not say that they can go back and visit. It should be obvious that we look forward to visiting, but it will never be the same. 

Please people, do not tell me something like "Why do you want to study abroad again? Why don't you care about me? Why do you leave me here? Aren't we enough?" You need to understand that I don't leave because I hate you, I leave because I love myself. This is what I need. I am still young and I want to keep my options open. There's lots of time before I have to settle somewhere. There is always time to go back home, where our own story started.

UPDATE: It's May 2020, I already graduated from University, I went on Erasmus, I did an Internship in the USA (exactly where I did my exchange year, so in fact, I did have the opportunity to go back!), and I am currently living in Portugal where I am quarantined, away from my family. Fast-forward 4 years from the very first time I wrote this and I can now say that after this state of emergency, I will definitely go back home for a while.

Read Also: "Five Things I've Done For The First Time On Exchange."

- Cris