Zsuzsi Abroad pt. III

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." (Henry Ford)
Who: Zsuzsi
What: Ba (Hons) in European Studies and Russian. That is. Rather vague. Basically: international relations, comparative politics, European regional politics, the EU, Russian (language, translation, culture, history), Polish. The absolutely most interesting module was the one about Ethics in International Relations. If analysing all the evil in the world is something you might like, then I’d definitely recommend this one for you.
What kind: fun stuff, the kind of stuff you’ll never forget. Interesting lectures, wild nights drinking rum, shopping at Primark, drinking tea with friends, cooking fajitas.
When: a few years ago.
Where: Manchester, UK.
How: studying in the UK was easy and complicated at the same time. It was very independent (nobody held your hand, telling what to do, passing the exams was your own responsibility) and interesting (you had a lot of options although you had to stick to a couple of subjects). The professors were wonderful. Manchester is a city full of students so life after classes was entertaining to say the least.
Which: The University of Manchester (there are quite a few universities in Greater Manchester).
Why: Studying abroad was an easy decision for me, it was a decision that I never even re-considered. Not only did I think that it would do some good for my language skills. It was also a challenge that I needed to confront in order to develop as a person: when one moves abroad to study (and sorry, exchange students don’t go through the same process) there is so much experience to gain. Firstly, you really learn to stand on your own two feet and take responsibility for your own life and actions. You  will learn to cook, clean and keep yourself alive quite quickly. You also need to take off the mask you’re hiding behind, make an effort to make friends, and survive culture shocks. Furthermore, you are the outsider. You are not in your own country, so you start perceiving life and reality from new angles. 

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