Student Blog: An American Cat Mom in London

Living and studying in London has always been somewhat of a dream for me. I was accepted into an undergraduate program in London, but I ended up staying in the United States because of COVID. I was really disappointed, but I went to a great school and made some amazing friends, so I didn’t think about it too much. I graduated with my BA in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies in May 2024, and while I had originally planned to take a gap year to work as a teacher, I decided to apply to grad school on a little bit of a whim. Though I wish I’d given myself more time to work on my applications, I was accepted to UCL a few weeks before I graduated, and by September, I had landed in London. I even brought my cat, Kiki, with me. (She’s very happy to not be living with my parents and their two husky puppies back in the US.)

I am a Russian and Eastern European Literature and Culture MA student in SSEES at UCL. When I had to chooses my modules for my program, I had to limit myself. There were so many classes I wanted to take, and there was no way for me to take them all. I looked at the classes offered, the instructors who would be teaching them, and considered what I might want to write my dissertation on and what could classes could help prepare me for my first major independent research project.

My first term was very slow. I only had two classes, one on Monday and one on Friday. It was a great way to ease into being in graduate school and living in London, away from home for really the first time. Term two is much, much busier. I’m taking five classes and starting to work on organizing my dissertation, which will be due in September before I graduate. It’s a little overwhelming, but I honestly work better with more to do, so it’s working out okay so far. Fingers crossed I still feel the same way when I’m done writing the five essays that will be due before term three.

Sometimes I’m not sure how much the differences between my MA and my BA are from being postgraduate versus undergraduate, or instead from one being in the UK and the other in the US. Studying as an MA student is much more independent than being an undergrad. Almost all of my courses are seminars, meaning they are almost entirely discussion based, rather than revolving around lectures. It’s also a little scary having an entire module grade based on just a single essay, rather than having several assignments to balance everything.

Outside of class, just living in London is a lot different than what I’m used to. I grew up in a really small town, so living in London was really intimidating at first. It took a few weeks to get used to having to take the tube to campus instead of driving, and I’m still not used to being so far away from my family. It’s weird having an urban campus that is a part of London itself, rather than a campus that’s completely independent and separate from everything else. I haven’t been out and about much, but a friend took me on a quick walking tour of the city. Big Ben was a lot shorter than I thought it would be.

It’s really easy to get overwhelmed sometimes, but it’s also everything I’d hoped it would be. I panicked when I first arrived in London, but thankfully the Languages and Cultures coordinator and my personal tutor helped me find my balance, and it feels like I’ve been in London and at UCL for than just six months. It recently hit me that I’m almost halfway through my year long program, and it’s all gone by so fast.

I did a lot of research before choosing to apply to UCL. I looked at the modules offered, the faculty within SSEES and their research interests, the different seminar series offered, and resources throughout UCL. I did some typical social media sleuthing, and I’m honestly really happy that I chose to apply, even when it wasn’t my original plan. I’m not quite sure what I’ll do come September when my program ends, but right now I’m just enjoying going to class and being here.

Read Maddy's student profile here.

If you'd like to find out more about SSEES Postgraduate Programmes, join us in our Graduate Open Evening on Tuesday 25 March 2025.