Catarina's Exchange to Richmond, the American International University in London | England
My name is Catarina Chesworth and I studied
abroad at Richmond, the American International University in the UK in Semester
2 of 2019. At Murdoch University, I am studying English and Creative Writing
and Theatre and Drama.
The key factors for myself choosing to study at
Richmond, the American International University were…
I needed to look at if the university had both
English and Drama. I wanted to go to the UK from the moment that I found out
about the Exchange program, overall I chose Richmond because it was in the
heart of London and the easiest and most convenient place for me to travel
around.
A little about Richmond, the American International
University …
I took four classes, I took History of London,
World Theatre, Screen Acting and British Fantasy writing. The classes I took
were all amazing and I loved every minute of them. AT the start I have to
admit, I as quite nervous because I wasn’t sure how different they would be
from my classes back in Murdoch, but they were very different, I would have to
say the biggest difference was the fact that the classes size was about half of
what a class would be in Murdoch, my smallest class consisted of me and 3 other
students, where my biggest class consisted of around 18. Small class sizes
meant that every student had a far better connection with their tutor which was
good to have, especially being in a new place it was good to be able to gain
easy clarification. My favorite class was my screen acting class, it was a
class that I chose to do for fun, I learnt so much and because there were only
11 other students in the class we all gained a close connection with eachother
and we are still keeping in contact. The tutor for that class felt like a friend,
someone who was easily approachable and a fantastic mentor. The class that I
gained the most experience from was my British Fantasy Writing Class, I wrote
some of my best essays on that class, mainly because I got to write about Harry
Potter and Narnia. The other two classes were good too, for History of London
we got to learn about London and the history of is from when the Anglo Saxons
took over, to current times. We went on field trips each week it was very
interesting to see. World Theatre was impactful because we got to learn about
all the theatre techniques and styles from all over the world instead of just
sticking to one style from one country we did them all.
A little about the city I lived in, London…
I
lived in London; I however was situated in Kensington. It was very easy to get
around London and all other England too. The Tube is easy to navigate once you
go on it a couple times, otherwise the signs are very easy to read and follow.
I didn’t really have a favorite place to eat because I wanted to venture out
and try new things each time, but they have a Sushi place called Wassabi and
another place called Wagamama which were both very nice, but a little on the
pricey side. People were mostly nice, it would depend on where you were, just
like in Perth. It also depends on how you treat people yourself, if you are
nice and welcoming people are more than likely to give you the same treatment.
The best parts of my experience…
Travel
was a fantastic part of my exchange, every time I went out was a new place for
me. I also really liked living on campus, it was very convenient. The classes
were fantastic and the friends I made are irreplaceable. I now have friends
from all over the world.
Some of the challenges about studying abroad…
At the
start I had bad homesickness, it was hard to get out and I felt like I didn’t
belong there. But once I Started getting out and seeing things and talking to
people, I soon got over that and when it was time to leave it was hard to say
goodbye to my life there. The only time I experienced culture shock was when I
travelled out of the UK.
A little about my accommodation whilst studying
abroad…
I
lived on campus in Kensington with a roommate. My accommodation was nice, and
meals were included in the price of the accommodation. Even though it is
sometimes tough, my advice would be to go for the roommate option if you are
able to. Either that or get close to the people on your floor.
Funding my exchange experience…
I
saved all my money, I had been saving for over a year.
Whilst on exchange, I travelled to…
I traveled to Scotland first, I only got to
visit Glasgow but it was so green and it is one of my favorite places in the
UK. I then went to Bath and Lowesoft, they were small little coastal towns and
the locals were friendly, I went to Brighton and Eastbourne, they are something
else and the locals are very welcoming and always about if you get lost,
Brighton had stones on their beaches which was so crazy. I traveled all over
London. I went to the City of Kent every fortnight to visit family, Kent it
beautiful. I got to travel to France twice, it is so weird going to a place
that English is not the spoken language and nor are the signs. My favorite
place however is Barcelona, it was beautiful, green and full of live, I can’t
wait to go again and see more.
Advice I would give to someone considering
studying abroad…
I
would say just give it ago, it seems so scary, but it is a once in a live time
opportunity. If I had the chance to go again I would. Everything is a new
experience there and your confidence in yourself grows. If you are even
questioning it, ask people around you who have done it, ask everything you need
to but honestly just give it your best shot. It is a once in a lifetime
opportunity. I have bad anxiety and I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it. But
I did it and it’s the best thing I have ever done for myself.
-
Catarina studied abroad at Richmond, the American International University in
London.
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