Toronto, here I come!

Ever since I was a kid I loved the excitement of travelling. When I was just five years old I flew to England on my own. My parents never thought I would actually board that flight but I did not bat an eyelid but confidently marched through security and waved my mum goodbye. That was probably the moment the travel bug kicked in.

Since then I loved to visit different countries, take adventurous walks through pretty countrysides or explore the streets of exciting cities. Because part of my family always lived in England I was used to travelling a lot. Even during school I took part in several exchange programs or school trips.

After myA-levels I travelled to Tanzania to do voluntray work. Not only did I fall in love with the country but also with the "lifestyle" of being on the move. The freedom and independence while travelling but also the excitement of seeing and learning new things every single day had a great impact on me.

So I think nobody was surprised that I declared I wanted to go abroad just after I got settled at my new home in Giessen. I did a great deal of research to find out about all the different opportunities that my university offered. There were all kinds of programs and a lots of people I got in touch with. Of course this whole process was rather confusing and tiredsome. But one day I came across an international exchange program offered by the department for Psychology that got me really excited. The website claimed that there was an exchange with "York University" in Toronto, Canada. I googled their webpage and got even more excited: This university not only includes the biggest department for psychology in North America, it also emphasizes its focus on diversity and is the only bilingual (English/ French) university in Canada.

By the time I read all these things, I was ready to pack my bag and go straight away. This sounded perfect to me!

I immediately emailed the given address for applications. Unfortunately I got a reply saying that the whole exchange was not set up yet and there were still ongoing negotiations with Toronto which might take a while.

I was totally frustrated! After all the research I did I finally found an exchange I really liked and now they were telling me they were not ready for applicants!

A few weeks went by and I kept phoning the professor who was organizing the exchange with Toronto, always to be told that there were no news on any progress. One day I checked my mails and I had an email with good news: my university finalized negotiations with York University and if I was still interested I had a few weeks left to apply. So I did!

I rushed around to collect language certificates, performance records and all sorts. Then I was invited for an interview. I skipped class just to be there on time. With wobbly legs, sweaty palms and a racing heart beat I entered the office of the professor that held the interviews. There was a small round table in the corner were I was seated. Across from me sat a lady I did not know at the time (but soon found out to be the secretary of another professor I sent some homework to the day before the interview) . The interview began with general smalltalk about my interests and hobbies and went on to more specific questions. They asked my why I wanted to study abroad and what my expectations were. I tried to answer all questions authentically but somehow I was extremely nervous. The flurouscent lights above were flickering and my heart was galloping. Also an interview with two psychologists is no joke! The professor who asked most questions kept a straight face and barely gave me any feedback on what I was saying. She did not smile or encourage me to go on talking which made me more nervous still. Fortunately after a while a girl entered the room. She was in her twenties, had a welcoming smile and was supposed to ask me some questions in English. She actually came from York University but did some research in Giessen at the time. That was when things turned around. She started a nice conversation I was able to engage with and helped a lot to calm my inner self. Finally Iwas asked a question that threw me completely: Was there any professor at York University who I wanted to talk to about his or her research? My mind went blank for a split second. I had no idea what to answer. Thank God my brain got into action again. It did not really matter whos name I mentioned. They were trying to find out how much research I did and how well I engaged with the webpage from York. I did a lot of research and i really wanted this thing to happen so I was about to make them believe! "Well,there was this article I read about the social behaviour of normal wallabies towards albino wallabies. I do not recall whos work this was but it sounded very interesting to me!" was my response. Then there was a second of silence. Incredulous looks on the interviewer´s face and then a burst of laughter. The girl from Toronto exclaimed that that was probably professor XYZ (I forgot his name yet again) as he was often involved in crazysounding research like this. I was so relieved and gave that girl a grateful smile for having my back. God bless the wallabies!

The interview was soon over but afterwards I felt completely empty. I did not have the feeling that I killed the whole interview, quite the contrary. I went home, stopped at the nearby burger shop because I was in desperate need of soul food and cuddled up on the sofa to watch a documentary about Zanzibar. But that made it even worse. I extremely missed the island and now I was stuck in Giessen because Canada would not work out either! That was just a miserable day...

... Several weeks later I had an email from the professor. I was offered to be the very first student to take part in the exchange with Toronto! I could not believe it! I went crazy and phoned all sorts of people to tell them the good news. Of all the applicants that wanted to go to Toronto they chose me! For some reasons they believed that I was the right person who deserved this place.

After all the stress and turmoil this was a major step towards my next big adventure:

Toronto I am coming!