Honestly, before coming to Singapore I had no idea what to expect. Sure, I had some friends who were here on exchange before, but it always different getting the info from someone else and experiencing it first-hand. After almost 5 months, I can say that coming to SMU, and Singapore in general, was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

There are some pretty big differences in my home university; Zagreb School of Economics and Management and SMU. While being here, I never felt different or excluded in any way. The professors (who I applaud for their tremendous efforts to really teach their students not just theoretical knowledge, but "life knowledge", too), the students and the overall community here are just amazing. I have never seen a university this organised and friendly towards their exchange students. We could literally ask whatever we wanted to know to whomever and get a response in a matter of few minutes. Additionally, I made so many new friends here with which I hope to stay friends for life - amazing people! Someone once said to me that Singaporeans are reserved towards others - that person could not have been more wrong. Seriously, you guys are the best. Plus, you all loooove food which makes me love you even more :D.

For the past few weeks, I found myself missing home a little as I can't run away from where I come from. Don't get me wrong, I love my country/city/university, but living there my whole life made me want more. The beautiful country of Croatia (google it right now if you don't know where it is or how it looks like) is truly a special place. Yes, the people aren't this open towards others (language barrier I guess - but, that's mostly the older generations), but what I respect is that we always try to make foreigners feel like home.

The number of exchange students coming to ZSEM is rapidly growing as years go by. We're a young university, but we sure take care of all students when it comes to receiving excellent educational background and acquiring friendships that last a lifetime. The professors are extremely friendly and always try help their students regardless of the nature of the problem. Thus, I can say that both the professors at SMU and ZSEM share very similar qualities. However, we can't choose courses we want to attend as we don't have the BOSS bidding system. You're obligated to listen to courses implemented in the program. Although this may seem horrible to some of you, it's actually pretty useful as you acquire knowledge from every branch, in my case, of business and economics.

All in all, I seriously recommend all SMU students to look up my home uni if they're thinking of going on an exchange. If not, at least put Croatia on your Bucket list - I promise you won't be disappointed ;)!

To end this long post, I leave you with one thing - Thanks to everyone at SMU for making me feel like home and enabling me to have this awesome experience. I will cherish this forever. Pusa! (sorry, you'll have to google that, too :D)

Ella, from Zagreb School of Economics and Management (Croatia), currently on exchange at Singapore Management University

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