When I first arrived in Germany, a stranger in a strange land, I felt I was alone. Everyone I knew was halfway across the world, and none of them had any idea what I was going through. I was isolated in my challenges.

Coming to FIS changed all that. Suddenly I was surrounded by people who knew exactly what I was going through, because they had been through it themselves. There was a whole community ready to help me if I needed it and support me and my family as we adjusted to the new culture. 

Yet here was the thing – I had never even met these people. I didn’t know them. They didn’t know me. But they were still willing to reach out and lend us a hand.

That’s the beauty of the international community – everyone is willing to help each other out, no matter what. No matter what culture or nationality you are, you are welcome. This warmth and neighborliness is the most wonderful thing about the community – how everyone, from every country, can come together to help each other out, and how everyone can be proud of their culture and heritage and be free to be themselves.

While “be yourself” might just be the most over-quoted ideology, somehow, at least for me, it was hard to stay true to. Arriving at FIS, there were so many cultures and languages and identities, it was overwhelming to find out where I fit in. As someone who’s naturally prone to be shy around strangers, it was scary to be around an entirely new crowd, and I wanted desperately to belong. It was tempting to just conform into whoever the people around me were, and for a while, I did.

But I soon realized that who I was trying to be wasn’t who I was. If I wanted to be happy, I had to stay true to myself. 

And when I had finally found a way to do this, I made some of the best friends of my life.

An international community is a diverse one. There are so many different cultures, it can be hard to find where you fit in. Yet if you can be confident in yourself and your culture, then you’ll find where you’re meant to belong. As that’s what makes an international community so special: every person brings something new to the table, and when all of these cultures intertwine, something truly amazing comes.

I never realised how true this was until I left my home country. Before I left, it was strange to think that there was another way to live. I never could have imagined that it would be possible for different cultures to have such different ways for doing everyday things – nor could I have imagined how much I would love it! 

As I’ve traveled around Europe, I’ve witnessed so many new cultures and ways of life, all of which have been so wonderful in their own ways. Before I came here, I had a plan on how I wanted my life to go – but now, I’ve realized that there are so many wonderful paths I never even realized existed, paths that only were revealed to me once I had moved internationally. Our world is great, big, and wonderful, but you can only see it if you are willing to take that first step. And once you do, your point of view will never be the same.

Now, for me, being international is much more than just living overseas. It’s a way of seeing the world, of interacting with people, and, more than that, it’s belonging to a community unlike any other.

For the longest time, I had never left my country. I had never known anything else was possible. 

But now I know – the whole world is your oyster.

Go and make the most of it.