I am privileged to be sat here in the company of first year Contemporary Chinese Studies and International Relations Student, Rebecca Marighella, who has very kindly shared with us her experience of Nottingham so far.
Name: Rebecca Marighella
Course: Contemporary Chinese Studies and International Relations
Year: 1
Hometown?
I have two actually, Rome and Dubai. I was born in Rome and I moved to Dubai at the age of 15 for my dad’s job offer. I spent my last two/three years of schooling there where I achieved my IB Diploma. I then decided to spend my further studies here in the UK.
What made you choose the UK, more specifically Nottingham, as your place of study?
I chose Nottingham since it’s very highly ranked for Oriental studies, it’s actually one of the highest in the world. Also, what really sold me was that there is an opportunity to study abroad for my second year. This has turned out to be very important to me because I have the chance to practise my Mandarin and brush it up to an advanced level.
I’m guessing that you have an interesting variety of languages up your sleeve, can you humour us (or put us to shame) with the amount of languages you can speak?
Well of course! I can speak English, Italian, Spanish, French, Mandarin and I have picked up bits of Arabic from living in Dubai.
That incredible! Do you have any tips for next year’s international students since it definitely must not be an easy task to uproot and move to a different country, especially for studying a degree?
I would say the key thing is to remain focused on your main priority, which is to study. Don’t forget why you are here. But at the same time make sure you go out of your comfort zone when socialising since it’s incredibly important to feel at home when you’re so far away from family.
Some solid advice. Do you have any goals that you wish to accomplish by graduation?
My main goal is to reach the same level of Mandarin as a native speaker. This would really help me stand out to future employers. More specifically it helps pave the way to my dream job, being part of a foreign embassy.
That’s a really great goal you have there. Very innovative and driven. I would like to thank you for your time and wish you the best of luck in achieving your goals.
Edited by Nicoles Swain