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Exam Season on Exchange
By Deborah, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada My first semester on exchange went by SO quickly, honestly it felt like exam season came and poured a bucked of ice water over my head. While exams are stressful no matter where you’re taking them, the experience here felt surprisingly structured and supportive, especially within the law faculty. One thing that really stood out during this period was how much effort the university put into student wellbeing. There were loads of organised events running alongside revision season, including doggy yoga sessions, studyathons, and other low-pressure activities to help students decompress. These were genuinely helpful in breaking up long days of studying…
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A week in the life of an Exchange in Singapore
These blog posts are all well and good, but if you’re interested in studying abroad I think one of the best things is to see what a week in the life is like. I know before I signed up I was on YouTube searching for exchange student vlogs – to much avail! Anyway, here goes a week in the life of an SMU Law Exchange student in mid-October (peak workload season, yipee).
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Studying Abroad
By George Davies – The University of Calgary, Canada There is no doubt that going away for a year to a foreign land can be remarkable. The endless stream of Instagram posts and vlogs are clear evidence of this. From the shots of students lost in the urban paradise of Hong Kong, to my fellow Mancunian travellers taking snaps in the idyllic rural landscapes of South America. For those that want study abroad, there is certainly enough substance out there to tickle your taste-buds and inspire you to go on an adventure.
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5 (surprising) things I’ve learned on exchange
By Catrin Stewart, (University of Guelph, CA) As we approach the end of the semester, I’ve decided to reflect upon what have been some of the best months of my life. However, there were a few unexpected bumps along the way, so I’ve decided to list them, and my (suggested) solutions to make the journey smoother for others! 1. Canada is EXPENSIVE And not just in the ways you’d expect. I knew my residence and flights would cost a lot, but food shopping, even with exchange rates taken into account, is about double what I pay back in Manchester. There are ways to get around it, like trying different supermarkets,…
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NC Chapel Hill: Work/Life
By Emily (North Carolina, USA) Whilst it has probably been covered before, one of the biggest differences you might face in the US is the academic differences. It will definitely take a while to get used to, however having said that it is by no means a bad thing. At Chapel Hill, classes run either Monday, Wednesday, Friday or on Tuesday and Thursday. So if you have class at 9am on Monday, you will also have that class on Wednesday and Friday. The consistency is good, and it means you don’t forget about that topic as you will have covered it multiple times. Unlike in England, for me our time is…
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Exams and Goodbyes
By Chloe Coradetti, Mechanical Engineering, The National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Hellooo Manchester, First, a little retrospective on my adventure so far which I wrote on my Facebook wall in December 2015: The first semester is coming to an end, I’ve been through a great range of difference experiences, beginning by meeting awesome, intellectual, hilarious, enriching people which I went on some adventures with, at boxing classes, skateboarding, partying, laughing, dragon boating, chatting philosophically or politically until 3AM…
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Academic Expectations at UWA
By Rachael Harrison, University of Western Australia This is my second post in a very short space of time. But I’ve finally finished, my first semester here at UWA. I’ve had a total of fourteen assignments and 3 exams, which actually means I’ve done more work then I would have in Manchester! Apparently there is a ruling here that exams can only be weighted a certain percentage, so my exams were only 40% which is at least 20% less than back home, plus in some you don’t even need to pass the exam to pass the unit. However, Australian universities seem to look their assignments and particular group ones! The…
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Academic expectations
Harry at McGill in Montréal Academic expectation at McGill. This is the blog that I’ve been putting off the longest and that has been for two reasons. The first is that it would probably be the least engaging to write whilst the second was because I had to find a way to write it so as not to put future prospective exchanges at McGill off. Though I realise in confessing that it somewhat undoes my efforts. There are distinct differences to the academic system they have over here relative to the one the UK has and invariably these differences will be viewed as good or bad differently for every…
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A gentle reminder
By Callum Campbell (National University of Singapore, Singapore) With all the travelling and the constant tropical climate it has been really easy to forget the real reason why I am in Singapore – to study. The upcoming exams, however, have acted as a gentle reminder of this aspect. With only a couple of days now until I finish and travel back to England, it would be easy to lose track of revision, but it is important that I maintain my determination and motivation over this last stretch. What does not make this easier is the fact the majority of other exchange students have finished and left to travel around the…
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Exams, new experiences, and the cold
By Hamish Russell (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA). When -6 starts to feel like it’s not particularly cold, you know you’ve settled into New England – or so my new friends tell me. With the weather in the northeastern United States as bad as it has been, I’ve not been venturing out too often since my trip to New York – but a good time is still to be had. Encouraged by some of the Americans I’ve made friends with, I’ve started ice-skating fairly regularly. While fun for us, we’ve had a mixed reaction from some of the regular skaters because of some of our antics, which have included skating…
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Oz Diaries 4: Let’s Study
By Olivia Dove (University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia). There once was a woman named Sophie, What a wonderful woman she was! The size of a trophy, As lively as a rogue bee, And she lived in the land called Oz. – dave bev (an Undiscovered Poet) There are two myths that need to be dispelled about university students. The first one is that ‘students don’t do any work, university is just one big party’. Sure enough, this is true for a minority, but even they have experienced long shifts in the library with a much-appreciated coffee. Lecture halls are usually filled, even for the morning sessions. And some students even…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
