Erasmus: Politechnika Krakowska (Crakow University of Technology)

Picture of me on my first day in Crakow, in front of Politechnika Krakowska

Right after writing about Erasmus program, I would like to continue with my personal experience. I went to Politechnika Krakowska for my Erasmus program. It is a technical university located in Krakow, Poland. Before I started erasmus program, I was highly recommended to join this school because it is one of the leading universities in Poland.

I went for Erasmus on my 4th (last) year of bachelor's degree, on the Spring semester. For my case it was pretty risky because I had Fulbright scholarship for 2014-2016 which was starting that fall and I had no chance to fail. And an advantage was I had to take a very few classes.

In some classes we had the pleasure of being "Erasmus Students" meaning the lecturer cared only if we enjoyed ourselves and learned a bit of what was taught. And in the other classes we were sitting with full time students of the University and taught very seriously.

Speaking about classes, a few things I really enjoyed in Politechnika Krakowska is that they had the latest technology in lab or practice classes. I remember taking building physics class which is for heat isolation (we do not have that course in bachelors in Turkey). That course was very unique to me and the theory was a bit confusing, however, after the lab classes, when they showed what was being taught in lecture, it sounded a lot better. Another standing memory I have is that in a concrete class we went for beam bending test which was very interesting to watch as an undergraduate student. Even though I knew I would be a structural engineer, one other class I had to take was transportation class and again it ended up being one of my favorite classes. The course wasn't only theory, we had to make a real life project of a small town. First we had calculated the traffic rate (inbound, outbound etc.) and afterwards started working with a software called Visum. It pretty much visualized our hand calculations.

Last but not least, I found the love of my life in Erasmus, who I call husband now. Besides him, I have bunch of friends all over the world that I am loving to meet once in awhile.

If there is one best thing that can happen to you is Erasmus. Whatever your life is about, if you get the chance, go for it, no matter what it takes. If there is anything I can guide you with please feel free to let me know.