This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Montclair chapter.
Ever thought about studying abroad during your college years? Chances are, your answer is yes. Studying abroad is one of the most popular things every college student wants to experience, but if you’re anything like me, you’re a bit hesitant. Questions such as ‘will I still be able to graduate on time?’ or ‘how much money is this going to cost me?’ come to mind every time I think about studying abroad, but after talking with a friend who is currently studying abroad, I’m definitely considering it more than ever before!
Meet Shannon, a Junior Public Relations major at MSU who is currently studying abroad, and step into her life as a university student in England!
“I’m a junior but in England they only have three years of university so here I’m called a third year. I study Public Relations with a minor in International Business. I’m studying at King’s College London (which just got voted 16th in the world, yay!) So far my experience has been awesome. University is much different here, each module (class) generally consists of a two hour lecture and a one hour seminar per week. Also, they only take four modules per semester. This averages out to 10-12 hours in class per week. Normally I have 1-2 classes per day and then spend about 3-4 hours studying. They spend much more time doing work outside of class here.”
“In the evenings I usually make dinner and sit in the kitchen talking and drinking with my flatmates. They don’t have dining halls or food plans so we cook all our own food. I live in a flat with 6 people, 3 from America and 3 from England. The drinking age here is 18 so often times we will go to the bar or to a nightclub. Because the drinking age is 18, my university actually hosts many events at bars and clubs. On the weekends I do tourist-y things, for example, last weekend I took a tour of Buckingham Palace.“
Between listening to her experiences both inside and outside the classroom, I have to say I am definitely taking the study abroad program a lot more seriously; who knows what you can learn and who you can meet when you step outside the box and explore your options!
For more information on how you can study abroad, visit the Global Education Center on campus! http://http://www.montclair.edu/global-education/study-abroad/
