One of the biggest differences between campus life in the U.S. and campus life in the U.K. lies in scheduling. At my home school, I have at least one class (if not more) every day of the week, with three jobs and multiple extracurriculars on top of that. It’s a lot but I love it, the pressure keeps me motivated.
Studying at Edinburgh has been an incredible experience, I just wasn’t prepared for how little time I would actually spend in class. The semester has 11 weeks of classes, and with honours classes that only meet once a week, it’s not a lot of time to be in a classroom. So, with all the extra time on my hands, I knew I needed something to fill it, and decided to try out a couple of new hobbies.
The first was print-making. It’s something I always loved in high school but never got a chance to spend more time on. Thanks to Amazon, I was quickly equipped with everything I needed, and I have had so much fun working on designs, cutting from linoleum, and printing the final product.
I also bought a little film camera, the Olympus Trip 35, for my trip to Europe in April. Film photography has always seemed daunting to me, but I watched countless YouTube videos so I could be sure I knew what I was doing. I snapped some pictures while I was away, and then waited nervously to have them printed so I could see how they turned out. I was not disappointed, I love them!
While the focus of any study abroad experience should be academics (ironic, I write this a day before an exam), I do think that the extra time can also be used for new activities, and I have so enjoyed mine!