-
Cross Road Blues
I knew it would be deflating to say the least when I came home from my semester in the States, but I honestly felt a bit lost. During the semester, I always had the reassurance that I’d be coming back to something – family, friends and life in Manchester. But the excitement of being back in the UK started to be replaced by the sadness of missing my new friends and an exciting life across the pond. So, I tried to change my outlook over the Summer. Here’s my three main pieces of advice for adjusting to life back at home when it seems really tough: 1. Plan for the…
-
Silhouettes
North Carolina’s famous blue sky is now accompanied by the promise of a very warm summer, with Finals week heating up both in terms of the weather and pressure. I cannot fault the efforts of NC State, however, in keeping the atmosphere across campus as relatively stress free as possible. This week I’ve had free ice cream, unlimited access to colouring pages and a full day of waterslides and pizza. Reliving the dreams of my five-year-old former self has been a great way to enjoy my last few days here and I’ve never felt so calm during exam season before. It definitely makes revising seem a lot less daunting than…
-
Till It Happens To You
There is an inescapable bubble that absorbs you when you study abroad. Everything is exciting, everything is new – new friends, new classes, new experiences. You quickly adapt to living at three times the speed of real time, where a week goes by in a day and a month is over before you’ve had time to process yesterday’s reading for class. But I’d implore any potential ‘go abroad’ student to just, if only briefly, think back to that very distant lecture in Manchester that was ominously titled ‘It Won’t Happen to Me’. I admit, it escaped my memory as soon as my suitcase fell off the baggage claim in RDU…
-
Half The World Away
By Shifra Power (North Carolina State University, USA) Whilst everyone else was making New Years Eve plans, I was cruising through an 8 hour 55 minute flight from London Heathrow to Raleigh-Durham International airport. Although the official move in date wasn’t until the 3rd January, my dad and I decided to head out to Raleigh on the 30th December to check out my new home for the next term. I was grateful to fly out with someone familiar to settle in for the first few days, especially when an emergency purchase for a new winter coat was needed (cheers Dad). On that note, a fair warning to future travellers – don’t…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
