There is no road of flowers leading to glory.

“There is no road of flowers leading to glory.” – Jean de la Fontaine

My trip to Lille, a city in the north of France, was not full of flowers, but I came back with a big bouquet of knowledge.

It all started with a bold idea to help foster a new Erasmus IIA as our faculty had no university to offer me, and so I had to struggle on my own. After months of paper struggles, I successfully fought my way through with the tremendous help of the current dean, prof. Mgr. Renata Panocova, PhD., and so my semester abroad could begin.

The first few days were marked by chaos and slight hecticness, as it was my first time at the place and many mistakes were made while dealing with the “paperwork”. Luckily, the lecturers were still helpful and hand in hand we managed the opening of the semester together. During that time I picked up an incredible amount of new information and world views from another country. Classes were calm during the week and each teacher did their best to give us their best during their lessons. There were also courses on offer to improve my language skills, which of course I took advantage of and improved my knowledge of French. I enjoyed meeting new people and improving my beloved French together with them. The cuisine was exquisite and the team in the kitchen surprised us every day with an interesting specialty. Among other things, the beautiful architecture of the city and the chapel in the school caught my eye and we were able to use it to calm down from the daily chaos.

Thanks to my involvement, I have received many invitations to various student sessions and parliamentary simulations. I have also been able to see the French National Assembly (Parliament) in session during the period of the retirement age increase and thus witnessed often lively debates. My colleagues and I also saw the European Parliament in Brussels where we met EU MEPs and simulated an EU Council meeting. I proudly handled the role of Slovak delegate. We learned a lot and, of course, we laughed a lot. Every day was a little new adventure for me which brought me a new experience or knowledge. In conclusion, I would just like to say one big “DON’T BE AFRAID!” Keep trying new things and follow your dreams. It still won’t be easy and oftentimes you may even want to give up. However, when you have successfully mastered and overcome your struggle, you will be able to be proud of yourself for being a little better than you were yesterday. I hope to see you in France for a semester and have many adventures together.

Ivor