At 28, I made a decision that would change everything: I left Kazakhstan to pursue a master’s program in data analytics in Switzerland.

Let me be clear: this wasn’t some romantic, spontaneous decision made over a glass of wine while scrolling through travel photos. I didn’t choose Switzerland because of the mountains or the chocolate or the picturesque villages. I chose it for education—for the opportunity to challenge myself academically and professionally in ways I never had before.

Growing up in Kazakhstan, in a city surrounded by mountains, I’d always had that landscape as my backdrop. But Switzerland? That was about something bigger than scenery. This was calculated, intentional, and driven by ambition.

Why Switzerland? Why Now?

People always ask why I chose Switzerland, especially when I was considering French-speaking countries specifically. The answer is layered, like everything important in life.

First, the practical: I wanted to experience a Western approach to work and life. I’d spent five years in Kazakhstan as an engineer, learning the systems, the culture, the Soviet-influenced way of doing things. I was good at my job. Comfortable, even. But comfort can be a cage if you let it be.

I wanted to see how the other side operated—the Western systems, methodologies, and mindset. I wanted to test myself in an environment that would push me beyond what I already knew.

Second, the personal: I loved learning languages. French wasn’t just a requirement for daily life in the Swiss canton I’d chosen—it was a challenge I actively wanted. Why make things easy when you can make them interesting, right?

And third, the investment: Switzerland made sense because I was already investing time and money there. The salaries are high, the quality of life is exceptional, and frankly, I believed in my ability to make it work. When you’re confident in yourself, opportunities that seem impossible to others start looking like exciting puzzles to solve.

The Reality of Missing Home (Even When You’re Not That Homesick)

Here’s something nobody tells you about moving abroad: you can miss home without being homesick in the traditional sense.

I wasn’t heavily sick with longing. I didn’t cry myself to sleep or count down the days until I could visit. But there were moments—quiet moments when I was always working, always pushing forward—when I’d think about Kazakhstan and feel this gentle ache. Not debilitating, just… present.

My family has always been incredibly supportive. They trust me completely, which is both a gift and a responsibility. They’re always waiting for me at home, ready to welcome me back whenever I visit. I have a sister—we’re not twins, but we’re close as twins—and somehow, none of them were surprised when I announced I was moving to Switzerland.

Why? Because they’d watched me prepare for this my entire adult life. Because they knew that staying in one place forever was never part of my plan. Very few—almost none—of my friends or family members were traveling, not even mentioning spending summers abroad. For most Kazakh people, that sounds almost unreal. But me? I never stayed home. I was always an explorer, always spending my vacations abroad. They weren’t surprised because they’d seen this restlessness in me for years.

Still, there’s something bittersweet about being trusted so completely to chase your dreams. It means they believe in you, but it also means they’re watching you leave.

Making Friends: Easier Than You’d Think (If You Know the Formula)

One of my biggest fears before moving was: will I be alone?

Turns out, making friends wasn’t nearly as hard as I’d anticipated. But here’s the key—I came to study first. The study environment makes it incredibly easy to meet people because everyone’s in the same boat: new, nervous, excited, trying to figure out where the good cafés are and which professors are secretly terrifying.

My friend group became this beautiful mix of expats from different countries. None of my friends are Swiss—we’re all international students navigating this journey together. We speak English, French, Russian, switching between languages mid-conversation, and I never felt lonely. Swiss students do speak German, French, and Italian, but they’re much more reserved. My community became the other expats who understood what it’s like to start over in a new place, and we bonded over shared struggles with Swiss bureaucracy (more on that nightmare later).

The secret to making friends as an international student? Show up. Join the ESN (Erasmus Student Network). Say yes to coffee invitations even when you’re tired. Be the person who suggests weekend trips. Don’t wait for community to come to you—build it yourself.

The Language Learning Battlefield

Daily life in my part of Switzerland required speaking French. Not “nice to have” French or “eventually you should learn” French—immediate, functional, survive-the-grocery-store French.

Was it difficult? A bit. Okay, more than a bit at first.

But I had a strategy: practice whenever you can, with whoever will listen. Yes, even the annoying scammers who call trying to sell you things. I’d practice my French on them until they hung up on me. Every conversation was an opportunity to get better, even the absurd ones.

I learned to challenge myself constantly. If I could order coffee in French, next time I’d try to have a full conversation with the barista. If I understood the news headlines, I’d push myself to read full articles. Small victories, compounding over time.

The thing about language learning is that it’s humbling. You go from being articulate and funny in your native language to stumbling over basic sentences like a child. But that humility? It builds character. It reminds you that growth always feels awkward before it feels natural.

The Challenges Nobody Warns You About

I’m the type of person who tends to learn everything beforehand. Research is my love language. I read every blog, joined every expat forum, prepared spreadsheets comparing visa options and cost of living calculations.

But here’s the pitfall nobody expects: you can never actually prepare for everything.

As a non-European, I faced challenges that my EU classmates didn’t even think about. The paperwork alone was a full-time job. Every permit, every visa, every official document felt like a battle I had to fight.

And here’s what I learned: you must fight back. If your permit gets delayed or denied, you appeal. If the process doesn’t make sense, you demand clarification. Swiss bureaucracy doesn’t reward the patient—it rewards the persistent.

The other shock? People always say Switzerland is expensive, and yes, it is. But it’s actually lower than many other European countries in ways that matter. As a student, the benefits were incredible—sport activities were subsidized, travel expenses were manageable, and if you’re smart about it, you absolutely can afford living there.

Cheese and dairy products? Surprisingly cheap. Chocolate? Everywhere, affordable, and life-changing. It’s the small joys that make the expensive rent bearable.

Content Creation: Documenting a Life Worth Remembering

I started creating content not because I wanted to be an influencer, but because I kept meeting amazing people and visiting incredible cities and I wanted to preserve those memories.

It’s like documentation—a digital scrapbook of my life abroad. Every post, every photo, every story is a timestamp of “I was here, I did this, I felt this way.”

But it’s also about sharing with my family. They can’t always be here with me, so I bring Switzerland to them through my content. They see the mountains I hike, the friends I make, the life I’m building. It makes the distance feel a little smaller.

My Graduation Ceremony: A Moment of Bittersweet Pride

Last week was my graduation ceremony. A specific, significant moment that marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

My family wasn’t there physically. They couldn’t be, for all the practical reasons that distance creates. And in that moment, surrounded by classmates celebrating with their parents, I felt the weight of that absence. But I also felt their presence in spirit—every sacrifice they made to support my dreams, every encouraging word they’d given me, every time they’d trusted me to fly. They were there in the pride I carried, in the strength that got me to that stage.

But I also felt pride. I did this. Me. On my own. In a foreign country, in a language I’d learned from scratch, in a system that wasn’t designed with people like me in mind.

That’s the immigrant experience in a nutshell—moments of profound achievement tinged with the sadness of not having your people there to witness it.

The Swiss Experience: Mountains, Seasons, and Swimming with Swans

If you ask me about my favorite memories in Switzerland, I’ll talk about the mountains. Every. Single. Time.

Any time I went hiking—which was often—felt like medicine for my soul. The Swiss mountains look different every season. In summer, they’re lush and green, perfect for hiking and swimming in alpine lakes. (Yes, I swam with swans. Yes, it was as magical as it sounds.) In winter, they’re snow-covered and majestic, perfect for skiing in the Swiss Alps, which is surprisingly cheap for students.

There’s something about being in the mountains that makes you feel both incredibly small and absolutely invincible. You’re just one person standing in front of these ancient, towering peaks, and yet you climbed them. You made it to the top. You did that.

The Education System: Independence from Day One

One of the biggest cultural differences I noticed was in the education system. The structure is similar to Kazakhstan in some ways, but the philosophy is completely different.

In Switzerland, they teach independence from an early age. Kids walk to school by themselves. They go home for lunch, manage their own time, make their own choices. There’s a freedom and responsibility built into the system that shapes how people think about learning and life.

Coming from a stricter educational background, this was fascinating. In Kazakhstan, we had strict uniforms in high school and university. In Switzerland? They wear anything. The focus isn’t on conformity—it’s on critical thinking, personal responsibility, and self-directed learning.

It made me realize how much of education is about the hidden curriculum—the unspoken lessons about who you’re supposed to become.

First Moment of Culture Shock

Want to know my first real moment of culture shock? Elderly people.

In Switzerland, I’d see people in their 70s and 80s looking incredibly fit and happy—always with hiking boots on, a big backpack strapped to their shoulders, and a smile on their faces, ready to climb a peak. It was such a stark contrast to what I was used to seeing back home.

In Kazakhstan, aging often looked different. But here? These seniors were out conquering mountains like it was just another Tuesday. It was inspiring and disorienting at the same time. It made me rethink everything I thought I knew about aging, fitness, and what’s possible at any stage of life.

That small observation shifted something in me. It reminded me that I wasn’t just in a different country—I was in a completely different mindset, a different culture of living.

The Plan: Building a Career in Three Languages

So what’s next for me?

I’m currently applying to positions at the UN and other international organizations. My French, Russian, and English fluency opens doors that would be closed to monolingual applicants, and I’m not afraid to use every advantage I’ve worked hard to earn.

My goal is to build a career that leverages my data analytics expertise while allowing me to work in multicultural, multilingual environments. I want to solve complex problems, work with brilliant people, and continue challenging myself in ways that matter.

Switzerland was never meant to be the end destination—it was meant to be the launchpad.

Advice for Anyone Considering Switzerland (Or Any Big Move)

Do proper research. I cannot stress this enough. If you don’t know how to research thoroughly, you’re not ready to move. Learn about visa requirements, cost of living, job markets, cultural norms—everything.

Define your goal before you go. Everybody’s journey should be purposeful. Don’t move abroad just because it sounds cool or because you’re running away from something. Move toward something specific.

Be more brave. Believe in yourself. We constantly underestimate ourselves, and that self-doubt becomes a cage. You’re more capable than you think. You can handle more than you know.

Don’t wait for help. Yes, community is important. Yes, support systems matter. But ultimately, you have to be the one who makes things happen. Don’t wait for someone to give you permission or hold your hand through the process.

Be more inspirational than negative. When you’re going through hard times, it’s easy to complain. But try to focus on what you’re learning, what you’re gaining, how you’re growing. That mindset shift changes everything.

A Note to My Followers (And Anyone Reading This)

Give it a try. Whatever scary thing you’re considering—the move, the career change, the language learning, the big leap—just try it.

You don’t need to have everything figured out. You don’t need to be perfectly prepared. You just need to start.

The mountains are waiting. The opportunities are there. The life you want exists, but you have to be brave enough to reach for it.

Stop underestimating yourself. Stop waiting for the “right time.” Stop letting fear make your decisions for you.

You are capable of so much more than you realize. I know this because I was once exactly where you are—scared, uncertain, wondering if I could actually do this.

And look at me now: Master’s degree completed. Three languages spoken fluently. Career opportunities opening up. A life built from scratch in a country that wasn’t even on my radar a few years ago.

If I can do it, so can you.

The mountains are calling. Are you ready to answer?

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This is my story—from Kazakhstan to Switzerland,from a regular engineer to an international specialist, from comfort to challenge, from self-doubt to self-belief. It was hard, it was worth it, and I’m just getting started.