Building relationships
Studying at a university is an opportunity to meet new people who have similar interests as you. For some people meeting new people is a breeze, for others it’s quite stressful. Most people want to have friends to share experiences and spend time with. Having friends to help you with your homework, remind you of your exam date and then celebrate with you will make finishing university a little easier.
If the Czech Republic isn’t your home country, you might feel sad for your family and friends who stayed back home. Czech culture may be quite different from yours and you may miss the things you know – the food, the landscape, the language, the habits. Sometimes it helps to find a community from your own country while being in the Czech Republic.
If you are studying a full degree programme at CTU, you can get to know people from other countries through Erasmus+ program. If you don’t want to go for a whole semester, try a shorter training programme, maybe for a week.
Tips
- Attending an event where you don’t know anyone can be a little scary. That’s why it’s a good idea to meet one person beforehand and arrange to go to the event together. The International Student Club CTU in Prague offers a Buddy Program, assigning a Czech student who will introduce you to everything.
- If you don’t have anyone to go to an event with, try to be brave enough to go by yourself. There will probably be more people there who don’t know anyone and you’ll get together.
- PE (often compulsory at CTU) is a good opportunity to meet people interested in the same sport.
- International Student Club CTU in Prague organizes sports activities, trips, language exchange and other activities you can participate in.
- International students are at risk of culture shock, and you can find videos and other online sources on the COSTABEX website to help you cope with your new environment.