Wow I can’t believe exchange as come to an end. It honestly was a rollercoaster 6 month journey but I’m so grateful to have gone along for the ride.
The last month of exchange flew by as it became exam season. Naturally as an exchange student I crammed in the last three weeks for my exams but overall it went really smoothly. One of my exams were in McEwan Hall as shown below and honestly I couldn’t even concentrate on the exam because the architecture was that mesmerising.
Its also Christmas season! As New Zealand Christmas is Santa in shorts chilling on the beach it was so strange to be in the freezing winter. I felt like I was in a hallmark movie when walking through the Christmas-markets and drinking hot chocolate. But hands down Edinburgh has one of the best Christmas markets filled with so many sweets, goods and fun rides!
But sadly school was finishing and it was absolutely guttering to part with the friends i had made. I guess it is a plus as I have incentive to travel now to go visit them but so sad that we won’t all be together again.
I have learnt so many lessons about life on exchange but definitely the one that has stuck the most with me is to live in the moment and that theres beauty in everything. I realised how much potential Aotearoa has in improving our economy after visiting European countries so its given me a drive to come back and make a difference here.
To end here are my top three tips for University of Edinburgh:
- As there are so many clubs, make sure to find 3 that you like and go to their events! It can get overwhelming trying to attend heaps of events.
- Research what accommodation you want to be in thoroughly as you naturally tend to make a lot of friends who live near you, and people in their halls stick together. Also, if you want to be catered or self-catered, how many people do you want to live with I have heard good/bad stories for each option
- Make friends in your classes! Be brave in lectures as it helps a lot to have a support system in classes or someone to ask questions to as the curriculum and the format classes are run are completely different to UoA.
Thank you for reading my journey in Scotland and if you have any questions please reach out to me on email malishamuni@gmail.com or Instagram @malisha.muni ❤️
