University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
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Arriving at UNC: First Impressions of Chapel Hill
By Adam Lamin, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States) Before arriving at UNC, I had already had a slightly unusual start to my year abroad. One of my friends from home came out to the US with me beforehand, and we spent a couple of weeks in Miami before eventually driving up to Chapel Hill. After that, arriving at UNC the day before orientation felt like the real beginning of the exchange. I arrived at UNC knowing absolutely no one, but strangely, I did not feel nervous at all. I expected to maybe feel overwhelmed or slightly anxious, but instead I just felt excited. I had this…
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Differences between UOM and UNC
By Louis Cotterell, UNC Chapel Hill, USA The University of Manchester is an urban university, surrounded by a population that has little to do with the university itself. You could live in Manchester for years and never set foot on campus. In contrast, Chapel Hill is a true campus town. The university is the town. The community, the economy, and even the vibe of Chapel Hill revolve almost entirely around UNC. In fact, UNC is the largest employer in the area—about 40% of jobs in Chapel Hill are tied to the university. That creates a unique, school-central atmosphere. Most students live on or near campus, and you’ll bump into classmates,…
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Wrapping up the Year
By Louis Cotterell, UNC Chapel Hill, USA After the relief of exams concluding, the reality that the year was ending started to set in. This feeling was widespread, as my international friends all started preparing to depart home, and my American senior friends were graduating. Attending the graduation commencement ceremony was impressive. Thousands piled into the football stadium, dressed in Carolina-blue robes, to listen to the speeches. One was delivered by Mia Hamm, an ex-UNC women’s soccer player, widely regarded as one of the best female athletes of all time. It then resolved with a huge firework show, followed by a night out on Franklin Street. As I said goodbye…
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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,…
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Joining a band at UNC
By Louis Cotterell, UNC Chapel Hill, USA Jeremy Stickler has been going for a few months now, and we have our biggest show yet lined up for this weekend. All the stars seemed to have aligned. The story begins on a random Thursday of last semester. I was walking through the arboretum (a park-type area next to my residence hall) where there was a man (Mason) strumming a guitar and singing. I went over to say hi, and informed him that I lived very close and could come join with my guitar. He, as a music lover, eagerly accepted. We jammed for forty minutes or so before he had to…
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Studies in Chapel Hill: the Academic Side
By Louis Cotterell, UNC Chapel Hill, USA Through my time in the US I have found studies to be more intensive – perhaps due to the fact of living on campus, permanently in proximity to libraries, classrooms and academic buildings. It makes for a nice change to be nestled into the structures of academia, as opposed to living in housing off-campus and needing to commute. It makes it easier to motivate myself to study when I am only a short walk from the library.
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Travels in the States
By Louis Cotterell, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA In my time in America I have tried to get out of campus when I can, in order to see as much of this huge country as possible. While this has been a bit of a financial strain, travel costs are manageable, and I remind myself that money is temporary, but memories are forever. We had our first long weekend a couple of weeks into the semester, and my friends and I headed down to Wilmington, a beach city in the south of the state. The North Carolina sun was burning hot, and it was great fun to rent…
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Arrival at UNC: Finding my Feet
By Louis Cotterell, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA After to flying to New York JFK, taking a midnight subway and bus to LaGuardia (with no mobile data), landing in North Carolina and begging the bus drivers to let me on for free, I arrived in Chapel Hill. It was a very weird feeling, knowing that no one in the entire country knows you’re there, or cares in any way. I felt very empty that first hour, wandering around the campus, taking in its beauty and the hot sun, a different kind of loneliness. Wilson Library and Main Quad
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Reflections on Studying Abroad
By Amy Williams, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill It has been just over a year since I left to study at UNC, and I can honestly say I wish I was there now – well maybe not right now due to the hurricane! It’s a bit difficult to compare student life in America to student life here at Manchester as there are ups and downs to both campuses. At Manchester I felt it was a lot easier for me to get involved in things – the freshers fair was easy to navigate, and I joined a campus hockey team and orchestra. UNC did offer these things, but I…
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Travelling after Studying
Amy Williams, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Obviously, studying abroad so I could travel after wasn’t the reason I chose the exchange year course, but I’m not going to lie, it was a perk. Considering a lot of people do this, I figured I’d write down some things I learnt about planning travelling, and actually travelling. Plan, plan, plan. You can’t plan too much. There are times where you might want to leave things to fate as it were, but other times things need to be booked in advance. A lot of things like hotels and flights are cheaper when booked in advance, which I’m sure you know.…
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Tips and Tricks I’ve learnt
by Amy Williams, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Speak to the people who’ve gone abroad before you – you might think you know all the necessary stuff for going abroad, but it can’t help to speak to people who’ve gone before you. They may give you cheaper ways to travel, transfer money, or you simply have someone your age who can just reassure you of the amazing time you’re going to have. Personally, I got told that I could waive the insurance here at UNC, saving me a lot of money.
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NC Chapel Hill: Reverse Culture Shock
By Emily (North Carolina, USA) When I was told about this I silently scoffed at the idea. How could anyone not be comfortable with returning home? And yet here I am only days after returning home not feeling fully happy with my environment. For those using this blog to help gain an insight into study abroad, I apologise as this will not feel relevant to you until after you return home. This won’t be relatable to many but yet it is here anyway.
