Malisha (Sem 2, 2023)

My Exchange at The University of Edinburgh

My exchange experience was a fantastic 6-month journey, and would not change it for the world. When I first arrived in the UK, I felt overwhelmed as I had landed in London and was shocked by how busy it was. London alone is double the population of the entirety of New Zealand! Once I was in Edinburgh, I felt a lot better as it was tamer than London and was more student-friendly. My accommodation was a self-catered shared flat with three other students (a mix of exchange/full-time students).

The first week of university orientation was very busy, with multiple club expos and introduction events. I definitely got burnt out towards the end of the week. The courses I took in Edinburgh were quite self-directed and only had 1-2 assessments for each course and an exam. Edinburgh had less workload than my UoA courses, which had many more assessments and quizzes, but the marking was much harsher.

Overall, the city was very walkable, and people were very friendly! There is a huge international community, so I only made a few Scottish friends, primarily meeting British, American and European students. Compared to Auckland, the cost of living was higher for most aspects of life except groceries, which is far cheaper. On average, eating out is $25 NZD minimum so I usually would cook at home and limit myself to eating out on special occasions or catching up with friends.

Scotland has a strong pub culture, so a usual Friday night is a pint at a pub and watching the Rugby World Cup! Two clubs I joined in Edinburgh were the brown girl society and the pole dancing club. The brown girl society was a super-inclusive club to connect and make friends, which made the exchange experience so much better. I wanted to try something completely new, so I took pole dancing classes weekly; they were fun and gave me more confidence. A plus about being in Europe is that you get to travel to different countries so easily. During the weekends, I would always get a cheap Ryan Air deal and go on short trips to France, Italy, Portugal etc. It is so worth it and is super easy to balance with school too.

A highlight of my exchange was going to the Isle of Skye (near the top of Scotland) as the views were stunning and learnt about Scottish history too! Another highlight was all the friends I met, as I have made long-lasting friendships worldwide. As I had never been to Europe, a highlight was being able to travel, and my top three countries were Italy, Norway and Belgium.

A challenge while on exchange was being away from home for so long. It was difficult at the start as I missed my family a lot, but keeping regular contact with them helped immensely.

If you are still debating whether to go on exchange, I 100% recommend the experience. I learnt so many lessons and grew so much from being away from home. It also broadened my view on life as you truly meet so many people and learn different perspectives. Give it a go! You won’t regret it.

Q&A

What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?

• ESN club – an international club that helped me meet new people!
• Beautiful campus and lots of cafes and food available on-campus
• There is a large park right next to the main campus called the Meadows, so is a great place for a walk and a break from study
• You are given a personal student advisor who can answer any questions on your courses and enrolment or help with late submissions. It felt like Edinburgh truly cared about your mental health and ensured you could keep up with school.
• All the clubs have taster sessions in the first few weeks so got to try a lot of random activities e.g. I gave wakeboarding a go!

Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?

• Isle of Skye trip or trip to the Harry Potter Bridge – check out ESN tours
• Ceilidh dancing – traditional Scottish dance and is super fun and inclusive; you can be a complete beginner
• Visit Pentland Hills and see highland cows!

What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?

1. 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.
2. 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
3. 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.

How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?

I budgeted roughly 22k NZD for exchange but ended up spending 15k NZD by budgeting quite a lot while on exchange. I tend to spend around 200-300 NZD on short weekend trips and in Edinburgh I would cook at home so my weekly spend would be under $100 NZD (excluding rent). A lesson I learnt was that the most I spent on was transportation so make sure to be economical with public transport.

What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?

The most significant takeaway from my exchange is that New Zealand has so much potential. I realised how advanced Europe/UK is and saw how much more we can improve in New Zealand in transport and the economy etc.

Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?

Yes my most favourite place I visited was Norway as I got to see the Northern Lights which was definitely a bucket list item

Final Comments

Be open-minded and give everything a go but know your limits! Always most important to take care of yourself!