I did my exchange with Universidad Carlos III de Madrid during August 2015.

It was the most memorable time during my university life. These 5 months helped to shaped me into a more independent person. From living a sheltered life in Singapore, it became one that I had to cook, wash the dishes, and do my own laundry. 

During the 5 months there, I had the opportunity to work with international students from all over the world. They brought many new insights for our project and it was a great learning experience to work with them. They were willing to share their experiences with me and they helped me to learn more about their cultures.

The classes at UC3M were rather flexible and it allows us to travel around Europe during our weekends. For our housing, I rented an apartment with 6 others Singaporeans as the hostel was far from the city centre. It took us 45 minutes to travel to school; however, it gives us the freedom of roaming the streets of Madrid. Madrid is a really beautiful place with a mix of architectures from the ancient times to the modern.

It is really safe to roam the streets, trying out the different food and getting a beer. The experience of staying with others was also really fun. We may have our disagreements and quarrels at times, but it was through this experience that we learn how to deal and live with people.

Lastly, Madrid is really cheap on the groceries and they have Asian markets in many places. Therefore, you can get your Asian food fix easily in Spain (they sell Yeo's Soya beans, but you gotta keep it from your housemates or they will be gone real quick).

My exchange experience is something I will never forget. Roaming the streets of Europe and enjoying the cheapest (could be the best) beers and wines adds more fun. I had learnt a lot from my trip and many of these life lessons are not really available to us in Singapore.

Things I have learnt there include navigation, house-keeping, talking to random strangers and most importantly, appreciating what we have back home.

Dickson, from Singapore Management University, previously on exchange at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain).

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