Lívia Neves da Silva on Erasmus+ student exchange from Brazil

Livia Neves da Silva is a final year social communication student with a focus on advertising at the PUC-Rio university. In 2021, she was part of the production team of “The Developers Conference”, the largest technology event in Latin America, with international companies such as Google, Microsoft and Oracle. Currently, she is an exchange student at Academia, attending lectures in the Digital Marketing & Commerce module as well as doing internship.

Coming from Brazil to such a distant country with a very different language and culture was not an easy decision. As this was my first experience outside my home country, I knew that the biggest obstacle I would encounter would be the cultural and linguistic change.

When I arrived in Maribor, I met very good people who always helped me, and I also met quiet and reserved people, which is quite rare in Brazil. Fortunately, everyone I met in Slovenia spoke English, which made the initial adjustment much easier – I have many friends here today.

I am a student of Social Communication in Brazil and thanks to the Erasmus+ programme I had the opportunity to deepen my knowledge in an area that also interests me: business. That’s why I chose VSŠ Academia, which helped me design the curriculum and offered me good lecturers. In addition to lectures, the curriculum also offers practical training.

Learning about culture in everyday life as well as in practical training was very important for me, as I am in the final stages of my education and interested in an international career. I chose practical education where I can apply my knowledge in my field of study and learn from the whole team, which consists of Slovenians and Erasmus+ students from other countries.

In such a diverse environment, good communication skills in English and the flexibility to adapt to the different factors that working abroad brings are essential. I quickly noticed a significant improvement in the quality of learning in the practical training.

Erasmus Student Network Maribor (ESN Maribor) is an association responsible for networking, creating events and activities for all Erasmus students; taking part in activities means that you meet different people, traditions and cultures all the time, which as a student is something you should not miss!

I think Erasmus+ student exchanges are the perfect choice to get to know new cultures, worlds, people, as they focus on exchanging experiences between many nationalities. Through Erasmus+ exchange and Academia College I met wonderful people from different parts of the world, such as Poland, Italy, France, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Finland. It was one of the best experiences of my life.