The Experience of Studying in UK

Time:2014-09-04 14:12:48 Clicks:

By Yalin WU from International Accounting (3)

I have spent three years in England, which has become the best experience in my life so far. I studied in University of Essex for two years, with the 2+2 programme, and another year in University of Bristol, as a postgraduate student. Both universities are great and I am satisfied about my achievement in these three years.

I enjoyed the experience of studying in England. Even though all modules are taught in English, this is not a problem. The practice I had in Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics was good enough to cover my need in UK. I have lecturers and tutors from many different countries: Britain, Germany, Indian, Korean, China, America, Brazil and so on. They are all very lovely and full of personality. But they have one thing in common: they take academy very seriously. Not only the final exam, but also in-term exercises and essays, they truly want me to actually gain some knowledge, have my own understand about the knowledge and able to apply the knowledge to reality. They were willing to take time and talk to me, they were all very patient. I met some great friends in UK as well. Not only Chinese, but also Japanese, Korean, British, French, etc. Even though our mother tongues are not the same, yet we all understand each other very well. We formed an Origami society, where we teach people how to fold paper into different shapes, animals and lovely boxes. All our members were from different countries but no one cares. We had a great time together and learned from each other a lot.

For accommodation, I tried to rent an private room outside student accommodation area since I wanted to experience a more independent life style. I managed to get a studio flat which was around half an hour walk to the university. There are so many things you need to consider about when you try to rent a place in U.K.  things like tax allowance, bills, internet, neighbour, rubbish recycle etc. The most important part is the contract. You need to look very carefully about the contract, including little print and places which can be easily ignored. There are law advisers in University for foreigner students, so it is better to consult with them first. If you cannot find a law adviser, your personal tutor can help as well. They are always there to help us with personal questions and mental health. During the rent period, you need to keep your words. The rent should be paid in time, the house should be kept in a good condition.  

The most difficult thing of studying in UK will be writing the dissertation. It is very similar to an essay, but it is must more formal and much more academically important. During the dissertation time, it is common for me to spend around 12 hours in library a day , and the rest hours will be at computer room and analysing data. Originality is very important for the dissertation. Of course you can quote from other people’s work, but you need to refer to that piece of work specifically. You need to state out its author, time, name of the journal, name of the book, ISBN number and public company. I have heard too many examples about Chinese students who cared little about this and they ended up failing the dissertation and having to do it over again or even failed the second time, which means they have to go back home with no degree. So this is a serious problem. During that time, I was required by my tutor to read more than 50 books and journals, the more the better. But I cannot just write about what were in those books. I need to pick out what is useful for my dissertation’s topic, understand them, master them, and retold the knowledge with my own words. It is a big challenge for me, who is a Chinese but have to go through those processes in English. Also I need to create my own questionnaire and send them out. And do the data analysis after I got all feedbacks. I am glad I got a great result on my dissertation, it is something I am proud of. I wish Chinese Universities can take dissertation as seriously as UK Universities.

Other than study, I had a great social experience in UK as well. I joined the St John Ambulance, which is a voluntary organisation, it provides first aid care on events, occasions even daily life. I learned many first aid knowledge from the weekly sessions, I attended weekly duties and I even became the Duties Coordinator of Essex LINKs, St John Ambulance for a year. I think it is very useful for my life and I managed to apply the first aid knowledge on my friends three times successfully. It made me feels that I helped to make the world safer. During those times, I feel that no matter British or people from other counties, they are all very curious about Chinese people. But because of Chinese students always stay in library or go out in a group, they find it is very hard to actually communicate with Chinese. This made them feel quite frustrated and they often asked me why. I know it is common for us to just hang out with friends and enjoy the moment of speaking Chinese freely, but we should spend some time with foreign friends as well. Only communicate can make both sides better.

I have to say, the three years in UK made me a better girl, not only academically, but also socially. I am glad that I chose to go abroad and went through all these. This is not just a period of my life, it is something I will never regret or forget for my rest of life. So if you have any chance to go abroad and study, do it, you will enjoy that as much as I do. Hope you have a great fun!