The exchange changed my life

Valentina from Switzerland spent her exchange in Denmark.

How it all started

In April 2018, my mom and I took a trip to Copenhagen during Easter break. I had fallen in love with this country and on the last day, I finally gathered the nerve to ask her the big question:

"Mom... what if I did an exchange semester?"

She didn’t react at all, for what felt for me like an eternity but was really only a minute, and then she looked at me and answered with her own question:

“Where?”

“Here?”

How it went

And that's how it went. Eight months later, I was on a flight to Denmark, heading to my host family. Instead of ending up in Copenhagen, I found myself in a tiny village with just 500 people. Surprisingly, I ended up liking it more. It gave me more chances to bond with my host family. I even started dancing with my host mom every Monday and occasionally picked up my host siblings from school and kindergarten. It was definitely a unique experience, especially since I'm an only child at home. Having younger siblings around was a whole new world for me, but I enjoyed it. The connection I formed with my host family was special, and I visit every year.

The exchange changed my life and it was the start of something new

Fast forward five years, and that exchange experience changed my life. It was the start of something new. I always say, I didn’t change that much during, but more, in the time after my exchange. I switched schools and started putting more and more effort into fulfilling my childhood dream – traveling the world.

It paid off. In the winter of 2022, I embarked on a six-month journey through Southeast-Asia and as of right now, I am sitting in a café in the middle of Rio de Janeiro, two months into my next adventure.

That exchange semester wasn't just a blip in my life; it set the stage for a whole new chapter filled with exploration and self-discovery.

Thank you, STS!