After spending 5 months studying in Manchester, England, I can truly say that it was such a valuable experience. It not only challenged me as a student with advanced courses and lots of self-paced study, but also as a person by navigating a foreign country and living alone. 

School, while I was studying the same subject, is quite different in the UK. Less time is spent in class, and you are expected to spend that extra time “revising” on your own. Especially in the upper level courses I took, we were meeting only once a week with the expectation that we should come in having looked over pre-lecture material. It was such a cool experience meeting students from countries I had never even heard of, and it was a pleasure getting to collaborate on coursework projects together. Living in a city with 5 different universities, clubs were a great way to meet people and get plugged into the city. University sports didn’t really seem to exist as far as I could see (there were no stadiums in Manchester except for Etihad and Old Trafford), so many students participated in club sports instead or just supported their favorite “football” team. 

Meeting new people in Manchester was probably my overall favorite part of the experience. This includes students, professors (or “instructors” as they are called in the UK), and baristas alike. Some of my closest friends I made were also from different countries, and it was so fun to swap bits of our culture or stories from our hometowns. For example, I wasn’t home for Thanksgiving this year, and one of my friends said she would host so that everyone could experience it. Everyone brought something, and we had traditional turkey, vegetables, potatoes, and more. I tried to explain the concept of a sweet potato casserole, but no one was really sold on it. My British friends made sure I tried important things like a Sunday roast and a trip to the local pub. 

The ease of travel was also a huge benefit to study abroad. Instead of spending $1000 just to fly to a single country, I was able to buy RyanAir tickets for only $30 and explore France! Weekend train trips with friends to Liverpool or a quick flight to Frankfurt was made so easy and accessible by living in Manchester. One of my lifelong goals is to see more of Europe, and this study abroad experience definitely aided me in my journey.