Sophie (Sem 2, 2023)

My Exchange at The University of Exeter

In semester 2 of 2023, I attended the University of Exeter in England. Having never been to Exeter, I didn’t know what to expect, but it was the most incredible 6 months of my life. Exeter is in the south-west of England which is a beautiful area of the country surrounded by natural beauties such as forests, the moors & even beaches. It is also one of the warmer parts of the UK. I was placed in a student accommodation with 8 other students in my flat, which was hectic! It was a mixed flat and all of us were exchange students, hailing from Australia, the USA, the Netherlands & Italy. I was very lucky because my flat mates became my best friends and we all got on so well, we made sure every week we would do at least one thing together as a flat which ranged from going out for dinner, bowling, having high tea, walks around Devon and attending university events. I also got to make a lot of friends through a church that I attended whilst I was in Exeter, which allowed me to interact with a lot more locals rather than just international students! I joined the snow sports society too because they had lots of social events where I made a lot of friends and got to know Exeter really well!

I took 4 courses on exchange, two in Geography, one in French and one in English studies. My favourite course was my French paper because it was a history paper that looked at Medieval manuscripts from France, and their relation to poetry, music and society at the time. It was a smaller class with only 16 students but the professor was one of the coolest, most interesting professors I’ve ever had. I learnt how to translate Medieval French to Modern French which I could then translate to English which was an incredibly difficult yet rewarding skill! I loved it because I would have never taken a course like it in Auckland so it was a very unique experience.

As for my highlights and lowlights, my highlights would definitely be the incredible people I met who I’m sure will be connections for life! My Exeter flat are already planning a reunion in a few years and on my travels home to New Zealand I got to stop in Vancouver, Canada to see two of my closest mates from the exchange programme. Another highlight for me was the travel I got to do. I went to Lisbon, Sintra, Cascais, Paris, Copenhagen, Lund, Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, plus a few day trips around Exeter which was so cool! I had a very positive experience which hardly any challenges but it definitely was expensive in the UK which was the hardest thing. Aside from groceries which were immensely cheaper, the cost of living in the UK was tough and I was relying on study link payments to see me through. Fortunately I could make it work but it was still tough to budget!

Q&A

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

I found that at Exeter and most other Russell Group universities, the research aspect of your courses, particularly at the third-year level, is heavily research-focused. I loved this because it was so different in comparison to anything I’d done before. A lot of our papers had to be written in the form of research papers and a lot of our class contributions were published in either studies or online. One of my courses had a dedicated website where students would submit answers, thoughts and research to the professor who would then publish the information on the website, which had over 100,000 views which is crazy! We were given a lot of readings to do but there was an expectation to go above and beyond and find our own research to classwork questions which I loved because it pushed me academically and it was also really informative to hear what other students had to say about the work they had found.

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

One of the things my flat did together was go for tea & scones which is so iconic and English so I would really recommend that! In Exeter the quayside is really beautiful and so was the moors so I would recommend going on some hikes in the countryside. One of my friends and I ran from Exeter to Exmouth which is where the beach was, it was a half marathon distance but a lot of fun because it was incredibly scenic. Getting around the UK on trains is really quick and easy so I would definitely suggest doing lots of day trips too.

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

1. Join a society or club! Societies were a massive deal at Exeter and the social scene revolves around being in a club; most clubs have social memberships too which was great so if you joined a sport society for example you wouldn’t even have to play the sport but you could still go to their events!

2. I would recommend downloading the following apps for Exeter specifically; FIXR, Trainline & TooGoodToGo. FIXR is where you get tickets to all the social events and clubs (because literally EVERYTHING is ticketed), Trainline gives you great discounts with the student card for booking trains & buses, and TooGoodToGo is an app where cafes sell leftover food from the day for super cheap, and it’s all really good value (and great food!)

3. Travel as much as you possibly can. Cheap flights through Europe is the best way to get around, especially in the winter time as it is less touristy so flights are wildly cheap. I got flights from London to Paris for under $60NZD which is insane!

What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?

– Exchange really pushes you outside of your comfort zone but in the best way possible.

– The class system in the UK is so prevalent and there are so many disparities between class & race which is really sad to see.

– Money comes back so don’t be afraid to spend a little bit more for incredible experiences!

– When you meet someone don’t be afraid to grab their socials!

– Most universities rely on one big assignment at the end of the term which counts for your entire mark for the course which is such a shift from most Auckland courses I’d done previously!

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

1. I went to Portugal for a week with 15 of my high school friends and I couldn’t recommend Portugal enough! It is super cheap and everyone is so friendly, it’s also a very colourful country which lots of great beaches. I think it’s a really friendly city and I felt super safe walking around. One of the best parts was at restaurants we would often get free meals/starters/drinks as long as we provided the restaurant with a 5 star google review so that worked really well!

2. Paris was an awesome city to visit in the summer, and actually really accessible via Bike! It was really hot and the metro was really sticky so I rented a bike and cycled along the Seine from the 12th arrondissement to the centre everyday which was not only a great way to see the city but also to get some exercise in. I would also recommend picnics in Paris by the Eiffel Tower & on the Seine, I did this with friends and it was so fun!

3. Copenhagen was by far my favourite city in Europe! It was crazy expensive so luckily I could stay with a friend I met in Portugal but so worth it. Another great city for cycling, but also very walkable as it is so flat. The cool thing about Copenhagen is you can get on a train across the Oresund bridge to Sweden so I did a couple day trips to Sweden which was epic and definitely a great way to tick off two Scandinavian countries!