Cody shares his experience of being an exchange student, things that surprised him and tips for other students considering a short-term study placement in Portsmouth
Cody is an Exchange student from Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. In his blog he talks about his time in Portsmouth and why studying abroad was right for him.
Why did you want to study abroad?
Studying abroad helps me towards two of my goals. It will help me after graduation as it adds to my degree but it also helps with my goal of travelling. I get to travel while doing my degree rather than waiting until the end or taking a gap year.
Why did you choose the UK?
I didn’t want to risk the outcome of my degree on this decision so coming to an English-speaking country felt like the safest option and I felt like the culture would be quite similar to home.
Portsmouth had everything I wanted – the similar degree structure, similar course – it felt like a city back home, small but bustling which was the right balance for me.
Did the experience meet your expectations?
I expected it to be harder, I expected settling in to be harder but it was quite easy.
This is the first time I have lived away from home. I definitely had difficulties, but they felt normal for someone moving to a new country.
I also expected the curriculum to be quite a bit different or that my grades might suffer and that didn’t meet my expectations either because it was quite similar. That was a good thing because I didn’t put my degree on the line to come here. This could have been something that held me back but actually, it will propel me.
Have there been any big challenges?
I think the main thing once I got here was spending, finances and such. I refused to take a loan so not having a job for the first couple of months was hard. But in the end, it worked out how I wanted.
Getting accustomed to city lifestyle and being in a university city was different to back home. We have a campus university which is away from everything so needing to find my way around a city was different. But it helped me settle in quicker – it was beneficial.
At the end of the day, everything ended well – I had no negative experiences, I ended up getting a bank account, I ended up getting a job I ended up with all the things I wanted from coming to uni here so even though there were a few challenges – they felt like settling in struggles.
Did you use any of the support services?
I accessed a couple of things – I obviously accessed the Global Mobility Team. They checked up on me which was quite nice. I used them at the start when I was settling in – they helped with all the paperwork and stuff.
I also used the Student Finance Team because I was trying to figure out how to pay my rent and I also needed to find a UK bank – that was another challenge.
The Careers and Employability Service helped me with my resume and gave me feedback on that. They helped me get into the job pool and find the job I am in now which has been good.
What is the highlight of being here?
The highlight was arriving – the reality that I was here and made it happen. I feel like landing and standing at Gatwick was the peak - everything else has been in brilliant but realising I was here, I had done it and everything was OK, everything was good. That was the moment.
This has been a big change and I am proud of myself. I have made new friends, I have made new opportunities for myself, and gained independence. I have built upon studying abroad, moving out for the first time, cooking my own dinners simple things like that not just the study – experiencing everything else that comes with it.
How easy was it to make friends?
It was very easy to make friends – I live with these people but apart from housemates, you meet people just going to classes, going to sports and stuff. Obviously, I met people at work too. Everyone is quite social here.
What was funny was finding out how language can be so different. In Australia, we shorten a lot of words and use a lot of colloquial terms and my mates didn’t always understand what I was talking about. When I first arrived someone asked me to speak slower because they didn’t understand my accent – that was a bit of a shocker, I didn’t think it was that different!
What are your top tips for students coming to Portsmouth?
- Get your placement sorted as early as possible to avoid stress later
- Get involved with everything you can. Your studies are important, but they are not the only thing – join sports, go to events, meet people too
For my fellow Australians:
- Make the most of the location. When will you be back in Europe? Explore the UK and explore Europe while you are here.
- Get used to people asking if you are Australian and if there are big spiders back home
- Don’t expect the weather to be bad – it is colder in general, and the summer doesn’t get as hot but 26 degrees is nice for doing everything in
- Don’t expect snow in Portsmouth. (I was disappointed) It does snow in the UK but it might not be where you are
If you are looking for Study Abroad or exchange opportunities here in Portsmouth you can find more information on the International Mobility web pages.