UK – Hannah
Student: Hannah
Course: Bachelor of Psychology
Program: Trimester Exchange T1 2024
Describe the city you were living in: the landscape, the culture, the weather etc.
I was prepared to be very cold arriving in Glasgow in the middle of winter, but other than a few very rainy and windy days, I found the weather to be very manageable! The gloomy weather fit the aesthetic of Glasgow and in particular the uni, as the old main building looked like it was straight out of Harry Potter. There’s a saying in Glasgow that “People make Glasgow”, and I found this to be very true. I met so many kind people and felt very safe living and studying in Glasgow, people were usually very happy to help and the humour of the Glaswegians was something that really stood out to me.
Describe a normal day in your life overseas: your university, your work placement or your study tour?
A normal day in my life overseas involved waking up and usually going for a quick walk to the uni gym. The gym membership is pretty cheap as a student! I would then prepare for classes and walk from my accommodation in Kelvinhaugh street through the park to the main uni building. Sometimes I would be lucky enough to have classes in the old building where I had to go up old winding staircases to get to classes! While I was in Glasgow I met some Australians who had joined an Australian rules footy team called the Glasgow Sharks who also have a womens team, so I went along to some training sessions with them and met so many nice people there. So after uni I would either go to footy training, or if it was a Monday night I would head to our local pub trivia with my friends at our favourite Irish bar and enjoy a pint of Guiness or two!
How did you spend your weekends?
My weekends were spent exploring the highlands or going on day trips to cities or towns near Glasgow. I particularly loved getting on the bus to Edinburgh which was only a $20 AUD round trip and exploring the cobbled streets or going on scenic hikes. Our Friday or Saturday nights were usually spent at our favourite local bars on Ashton Lane, just a short walk from the uni where the live music was always a hit! On Sundays we loved going to local markets or shopping in the vintage clothing stores around the west end of Glasgow, also near the uni.
Was there some aspect of your trip that was different to your expectations?
I was expecting to come back from Glasgow having made a lot of local Glasgow friends, however I ended up making many Canadian, American and even Australian friends. This is mostly because of the accommodation setup they have over there, as they house most of the international or exchange students together at Kelvinhaugh Street or in the Student accommodation right near the uni. Most students that are from Glasgow live in other forms of accommodation not through the uni. Although this wasn’t what I expected, it was actually really nice to make lifelong friends with people from all over the world who were going through the same experience and feeling similar emotions to me. In saying that though, there are definitely ways to meet the locals either through classes at uni or by getting involved in the activities held by the uni.
What was something that challenged you?
Something that challenged me was letting go of some of the expectations I had before going over. It’s easy to try to rush everything and focus on the things you haven’t done yet, but it’s important to appreciate the experiences in each day that you never would have been able to do if you hadn’t gone on exchange. Just living in a different country in a huge leap and it’s normal to be a little more stressed than usual as it’s a big learning curve. By the end of my trip, I ended up becoming really close with some of the friends I made and I plan to visit them soon. Although the time flies, don’t feel rushed to make friends or experience those life-changing moments, they’ll most likely come naturally when you’re not trying too hard. So enjoy every moment, there are some things you’ll have or do over there that you won’t even appreciate until you’re back, so just slow down and take it all in.