In her final blog, Evie reflects on her year in DC and highlights a few key areas she wished she had known before she arrived.
After nine months, it’s finally time for me to say my goodbyes to America. As I’ve been packing up and moving out, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my time in the US. Here are a few things I wish I knew before I’d arrived.
The system of education in the US is quite different, and it can take some time to adjust to it. It can be hard at first when it seems like everyone else in the class knows exactly what to do and how to do it well and you’re floundering. But remember that most of your classmates have been in the American education system for years, and you’ve been thrown in the deep end in advanced university classes. Take your time, speak to your classmates and professors and really read through your syllabi at the start of the semester. American classes can seem demanding if you’re used to British university, but you are completely capable and able to get it done! Once you get the hang of it, it can be fascinating to try classes in fields you never considered before (I took one in Russian Cinema, for example).
Living in an American dorm is an experience like no other. Unless you’re very lucky, you’re probably going to end up with a roommate. This can seem strange at first: where do you go if you need a moment alone? Will you and your roommates get on? What if your schedules just aren’t compatible? All these thoughts went through my head before I moved in, but I found that I made my closest friends in America through living in the same suite, and leaving them to go home was one of the saddest parts for me – I’m already making plans to visit as soon as I can! Even if your roommates don’t become your best friends, my key tip is to put yourself out there and just take things as they come. All you can do is be friendly, brave, and respectful, and the excellent thing about an experience like studying abroad is that there will be other students in the exact same boat for you to befriend.
Finally, I would advise to consider your options for food and meal plans in your university. As exchange students we often have slightly different requirements than students who do their whole degree at the college, such as not being required to get university meal plans, which are paid-in-advance dining hall food packages. This will differ from college to college, so it’s important to confirm this with your institution (especially so you don’t end up without a meal plan if your dorm doesn’t have a kitchen!). There are pros and cons to a meal plan, so it’s worth thinking carefully about your lifestyle and the sort of things you’re going to be doing while you are abroad, for example: are the dining halls more convenient? Which would be more cost efficient for you? Do you have dietary requirements which might suit the dining hall or cooking in your dorm better? I had a meal plan for my first semester but chose to cook in my dorm’s kitchen in the second to save money and to make full use of the wonders of American grocery stores.
All in all, there’s a million things that I could change if I went back and started my year abroad again, but I wouldn’t change the experiences I had or the friends I made for anything. I’ve grown so much as a person over the last year, and it has left me more ready than ever to tackle my final year at UCL.