A Year in England was... Enlightening. Past Review
By Evan T (History, Hamline University) for
Hamline University: York - University of York
I learned how much I loved to travel and experience new cultures and places. I love to travel, travel, travel, travel. Everywhere you go is different and every place has its own quirks. I plan to travel as much as possible for the rest of my life. It is because I liked seeing Europe so much that I plan to now go after graduation to teach English in Japan for a year, just so I can see a new and exciting culture and place in the world. Travel as much as possible, its one of the greatest things life has to offer.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I found the classes to be far far easier in workload and time spent. This was true for both the History and English departments. Even though the classload was easier I found the Professors to be better at feedback and bonded on a more personal level with the students. It was very much a discussion based system with minimal papers that had large amounts of feedback. Overall I found it easy and interesting. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I found it good overall, in many ways the English system at York was one where it is easy for a person to get forgotten. My first term my dorm was very nice, but when I extended I got put in G block of Langwith which really sucked and had very little support. So I have a mixed feeling about that. As far as classes it was less workload than I expected. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
MIXED. My first term was great, I had a good dorm where I bonded with quite a few people. I extended and had to move dorms to Langwith G block. That really really sucked. That building should have been demolished (actually I heard it was on the list to be torn down for the past 10 years) anyway, I was not happy with that building. |
| * Food: |
It was really quite good for breakfast, not the best dinners. I also ate a mix of things I bought out or cooked myself. Overall the cafeiteria is decent, about what you would expect of a school. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
My program met with a Professor from our home university. She showed us around, brought us to London. You learned to make friends with others in the same program. It was a great experience. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt they took all the necessary precautions. Told us the necessary things. I felt that after our Professor left we were more at the mercy of the Abroad school for medical care, which can be problematic. But overall I think our program did all they could to address these issues. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Language
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Do it, but plan to travel extensively, because honestly thats the best part about going to Europe. I love travel, I would travel my whole life away if I could. So plan to travel before or after the program, I cry for the people in this program who never traveled. I traveled for over 2 and a half months and I would have loved to travel more. (The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona was amazing, see it if you can) |
