Last semester I studied abroad at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. As an American might say, I had an ‘awesome’ time! Now I’m back in Nottingham for the first time in 9 months and whilst I have spent a year and a half of my degree here, in some ways it’s almost like I’m a fresher all over again. Below I’ll list the concerns I had about coming back to Nottingham and how I’m finding it so far.
Getting Lost On Campus
As a fresher, I was always getting lost and missing time saving short-cuts. Sure, I’ve successfully navigated a whole new campus and travel destinations alone since, but I thought my new found knowledge might’ve shoved out my knowledge of Uni Park campus. Walking into Portland building for the first time in 9 months was like going back to my old high school. It was so strange being back, yet I could still work my way around and barely anything has changed. Surprisingly, it’s all still in my head – although going into the city centre stumped me a little bit.
Trent Building is a maze.
Social Life
I enjoyed making new friends during my semester abroad, but under all the excitement of new adventures I wasn’t always the best at keeping in touch with my friends in Nottingham. Also, even when I was doing crazy American things like attending a Superbowl party in halls or going to Dollywood, a small part of me had FOMO for the social life I could be having back in England. Soon after I arrived back in Nottingham it was my birthday, so I gathered my Notts friends together for a meal and drinks in town. Despite having no recollection of where’s good to eat and drink in Nottingham, I had a blast. It felt just like the old days hanging out in Hugh Stewart Hall in first year, except for more maturity and stories to catch up on.
Academics
Classes don’t start until next week, so I’m not sure how I’ll deal with adapting back to the English way of university teaching. In the USA, there were continuous assessments with quizzes and class participation counting towards your grade, but the essays were easier. The main thing I’m nervous about are traditional lectures – in the USA, all of my classes were much more interactive. Of course, we’ve only had Freshers’ Week so far, so I’m still not sure how it’ll go.
Accommodation
As I was far too busy having adventures to sort out accommodation for third year, I’m currently living in self-catered Albion House which is part of Broadgate Park in Beeston. The luxury of having my own room again after sharing for a semester is great, though I do miss my roommates who became really good friends of mine. I’ve always made good friends with those I’ve lived with at uni, but at the moment my flatmates seem to be a bit aloof.
Talking About My Semester Abroad
Part of returning back to Nottingham has involved talking to people about what it was like in Tennessee, whether at a talk for potential study abroad students or catching up with friends. It is really difficult to sum up in a few sentences, so I usually end up saying some variant of ‘it’s amazing’, ‘everything is orange’ (the school colours), and ‘Southerners are the friendliest people you’ll ever meet’. I also have the opposite problem, which is that my semester abroad is something that I want to keep talking and talking about, but generally after a couple of minutes the other person is ready to move on (unless I start talking to someone else who studied abroad of course). Whilst it’s great to be back in Nottingham, there is this big part of me that wants to get on a plane back to Knoxville as fast as possible.
Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee
So whilst it’s felt slightly weird coming back to Nottingham, I’m definitely still a third year as I’m nowhere near as lost, confused and desperately searching for friends as I was as a fresher. Nevertheless, the excitement I get at all of UoN’s quirks now I’m back means that there’s still a little bit of the fresher’s mind-set in me. A week in and I’m definitely back in the swing of things. What better way to end my first week back than a night at Ocean?
Edited by Jayde Richards.