Marco Picco is a PE-and-Sport-Science student from the University of Turin in Italy and he has been with us for the second semester already. In his own words, he loves “sports (of course), movies that nobody else likes, meeting people from different cultural backgrounds, travelling the world, cooking, always looking for new food, seeking for alternative ways of living life, always moving, never staying in one place…” And now let´s find out what he loves about Olomouc.
Why did you choose our university for your Erasmus study experience?
For many different reasons: the great position in central Europe, it´s perfect for cheap travelling, the fact that the university offered cheap accommodation in the dorms, the kindness and availability the university employees showed towards me (especially Zuzana Hanelová), the fact that Olomouc is a true university city and everything is student friendly, the fact that the city is not small but not chaotic either, and also the interesting offer of classes taught in English.
Were your expectations different from the reality?
It seems hard to believe but I came to this country with no expectations at all, ready to accept every experience that would come to me. Also, I did a lot of research about Olomouc and the university in particular, this way I already had at least an idea about what I was going to find here.
Can you compare your study experience in Olomouc with the experience from your home university?
The classes at Palacký University, at least the ones I attended, are held for no more than 20 people most of the times. This small amount of students makes for a more active class, in contrast with the frontal lectures typical of my university in Turin, attended by up to 250 students at a time. Here the relationship with the teachers is better in my opinion, both for the small classes but most of all because of their attitude which is way more laid-back. Here the discussion of topics in class is something that we do on a daily basis, while in Italy I never experienced that. The active participation in class is always taken into account for attribution of grades at the end of the semester. One last thing is that in Italy classes are more based on the theory and on studying while here subjects are approached more on the application of what you learn in class, making it feel like you are learning less, regarding the amount of information, but also feeling like the things learned are immediately applicable in real life situations.
What were some of the biggest challenges you had to overcome as an Erasmus student?
For me, coming here was a big change because not only it was my first time living abroad but also the first time living on my own, since back in Italy I was living with my parents. I have to admit that moving here was not a challenge at all. What scared me most initially was that I was not going to be able to build friendship with the people here like the ones I have back home but then I found some amazing people here with whom I had unforgettable experiences. The dorm life was not a challenge ether. I got used to sharing spaces and things really fast and my roommate became one of my closest friends, the person I can always count on.
How did you spend your free time?
Being used to Turin, one of the most important cities in Italy regarding nightclubs and electronic music, I was a bit underwhelmed about the club scene of Olomouc, which is quite poor. On the other hand, I was surprised by the amount of pubs, cafes and restaurants where you can just go with a few friends, have a couple of beers and a good chat. There are also quite a few English friendly events like stand up comedy shows, small independent movie festivals and theatre plays. Many pubs also have live music or just people bringing their guitar so that all of the people there can just start singing along. Most of these things take place during weekdays since the local students leave town already on Thursdays to go back home for the weekends, leaving the city quite empty and with not much to do. Therefore, during these days of the week people rather relax, for example by taking walks in the many beautiful parks that surround the centre of the city, or take trips out of town, usually visiting the neighbouring countries.
What is the single most memorable experience you have from your Erasmus life?
It has to be my second trip to Prague that I had with the people that later became my closest friends here (Riccardo, Chiara, Mattia and Matteo). From the start, we immediately knew that we all connected and we were on the same page all the time. For me that was probably the most fun trip of the semester and probably also the luckiest since everything from the start till the end just fell into place.
Have you changed because of your Erasmus experience?
This is one thing that only people back home will be able to judge. On my side, I can say that this experience made me grow a lot, now I feel stronger and more able to face life, I am aware of what I’m able to do. Erasmus makes you understand that a lot more than you think is possible and boundaries don’t exist. Being alone in a foreign country puts you to test. You have to face hundreds of challenges without friends and family there to support you. You experience things that only in these special conditions are possible and you have to be aware that sadly only the people that shared the same reality will understand. Here the time passes extremely fast but at the same time small portions of it feel like a lifetime.
How can this experience benefit your future career?
Erasmus made me face with an international environment, so stimulating that in the future I will try to seek for something similar also for a job career. The social skills and the level acquired in the English language will help me be competitive in every field of my life, not only in a possible future career.
Would you recommend the study at the Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc to your friends? Why?
I would definitely recommend this faculty to each one of my friends. The practical classes offer is better in my opinion than the one back in Italy, with classes like outdoor sports, climbing and martial arts that are not found in the offer of any Italian university, I guess. I would suggest, though, taking the big theoretical subjects (anatomy, physiology, psychology) back in Italy where the quality of teaching these is higher, I think.
If you had to describe your Erasmus experience in Olomouc using 5 adjectives, which ones would you use?
Meaningful, unforgettable, Intense, unexpected, life-changing.
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