Meet Larissa.

I met Larissa Jochims through the LMU Buddy Program I signed myself up for at the start of my application process to LMU. She is an incredibly kind and approachable girl who grew up in a little town in Belgium and as her parents are both German, it came as no surprise that she chose to study in Germany in October 2017.

On our very first meeting, she revealed that she she signed up for the buddy program because she understands the struggles of being an exchange student overseas as well as the difficulties of meeting people outside the “exchange student circle” when you’re living in a foreign country.

Being an exchange student myself, I was curious as to how her exchange experience differs from mine and wanted to learn more about the things she learnt throughout her time away from home at age 16.

“You mentioned that you were an exchange student before coming to Germany, could you share more about your exchange experience? For instance, why did you pick the country that you did?”

L: I chose Finland as my destination because I always had a fascination for the beauty of Scandinavia. Also I like the winter season a lot.

“What was it like living in a different country away from home for you, especially at such a young age?”

L: Honestly, the feeling of independence I had was the best part of the experience. I enjoyed it so much that when I returned I was still a minor and had to obey my parents, it was like losing my newly gained freedom!

“What are some of the struggles that you had on exchange?”

L: My biggest struggle was loneliness. It can be really hard to make friends in a strange environment. Also, for me, the exchange experience had been hyped up a lot by former exchange students and my expectations were way too high!

“Did you ever manage to overcome your struggle with loneliness?”

L: I never really did. I had very bad feelings towards Finland and being an exchange student for years after my experience. To this day, I still don‘t have the biggest desire to move to another (strange) country just for fun. But this is also why I joined the LMU Buddy Program so that students like you won’t have to feel the same way I did back then!

“What would you say to individuals who are thinking of whether they should go for exchange programmes?”

L: Firstly, manage your expectations! Secondly, I think going to a strange country is very important in order to understand yourself better and to learn to understand and respect the mindset of other cultures. I was very young (16) when I did my exchange and was struggling with a lot of private issues at home, I learnt a lot about myself after the experience. So I would recommend people to consider going after school before they start university.

I have friends who signed up for the LMU Buddy Program and was never contacted by their assigned buddies, which was why I felt really grateful to have met Larissa. I thanked her for sharing her insights with me and hope to share her advice with juniors who are still undecided on whether they should go for exchange programmes back home in Singapore! 🙂