First vs. Second Semester

By Louis Cotterell, UNC Chapel Hill, USA

In the final weeks preceding the Christmas break, there was a strange feeling of uncertainty. Most of the European and Australian internationals who’d become our friends (and football teammates) were not returning, leaving only the Brits left of our studying-abroad friend group. It was going to be interesting to see how the second semester would differ from the first, and was in store. 

Among those who would not be back was my roommate, Martin, from Madrid. This was sad, as we had become close while grinding internship applications during hiring season. His absence was ameliorated by the new residence of my friend Mark, who had moved from his room in South campus that was miles from the rest of us. 

After coming back in January, we decided to greet the new arrivals at the orientation to offer advice and make some new friends. A contingent of Irish folk quickly became a part of our group and are now great friends. They have been on many of our trips, such as the Black Mountains surf trip, and Puerto Rico on Spring Break. 

In the Fall, I visited Boston, Chicago, Charleston, New York and Atlanta, while this Spring I have been to Savannah, Puerto Rico, and Asheville. I missed out on the trip to the Outer Banks, as my band was offered an important gig that weekend. I finished off the year with a road trip around the Deep South, which I will write about in a separate blog. 

Springs semester has topped the last one in one large respect. Joining a band has given me more purpose and a place to pour my time into. Having secured an internship at the end of last semester, I found myself with less of a drive to attend clubs and events that I’d joined to strengthen my CV. This left a little bit of a gap, which has been filled by joining Jeremy Stickler. We had gigs most weeks since we got up and running, and practicing during the afternoons brings such enjoyment, and brought me closer to my bandmates. 

I have enjoyed my modules more this semester, although they are definitely a little harder. I chose harder modules specifically to strengthen my mathematical skills in preparation for my final year at Manchester. This did result in a frenzy of stress as it came to exam time, as I felt slightly out of my depth, but I did manage to pull through and pass all my modules. The feeling of relief when it was over resulted in many a celebration, and LDOC (last day of class) was one of the biggest party days. 

In terms of sports, the second semester had basketball instead of (American) football. I found this more enjoyable to watch, although was disappointed with UNC’s performance. The basketball game versus Duke (the main rival) is the biggest game of the year, and if we had one, there would have been gigantic celebrations rushing Franklin Street. But alas, it was just not meant to be.

Overall, I have enjoyed the second semester the most, helped out by the beautiful weather. There were snow days, followed by hot sun, followed by lightning storms. It definitely beats the grey skies of the UK. 

The experience has made me very grateful for doing a whole year exchange; if it had only been one semester, I would still have enjoyed myself greatly, but it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good.