Undergraduate Study
Ed Fitzgerald
Politics, Philosophy & Economics at Santa Cruz, University of California, 2006-07
People
tend to go abroad for two reasons - either because over there has
something they want, or because over here has something they don't.
whether you're going abroad to sample the foreign lifestyle, travel,
make lasting friends, and learn; or leave your current life behind and
do something else for a while, there's nothing as limitlessly rewarding
as disappearing off somewhere for a year.
I went to the University of California, Santa Cruz. Built onto a hillside
around a redwood forest, we're all total hippies. The university
has plentiful dining halls, open spaces, glorious buildings and, being
an American university, living, teaching, sport and leisure facilities
that outrank English universities.
Waking
up, I came out of my building and to my right I could see the Pacific.
I found the way I wanted to live my life - sport facilities, clubs
and associations and so on. I wanted to see what people do at university
when they don't drink, and the opportunities are limitless. Paid
students organise events every weekend, either involving ice-cream, movies,
t-shirt making, sports excursions, travel, costume parties or even quidditch.
During the college nights, we ate fine food and saw traditional Japanese
drummers, fruit carvers, stand-up comedians and professional magicians
(that was the Harry Potter themed one - I made a fool out of myself
for asking what a muggle was).
Academically,
you'll be working much longer hours than you may have gotten used to in
the UK. The American system tends to involve much more face time and participation,
with small, intimate classes where the professor will get to know you,
and you'll often be graded on participation. At the end of each term,
you'll be given the opportunity to choose your next term's classes, and
it can be a wild and eclectic mix. You'll frequently meet economics majors
taking classes in Tahitian dance and the like. Many of those who had come
on study abroad schemes found themselves exhausted over the difficulty
of the classes they often found themselves in - make sure you're
confident and passionate about your subject! (It's worth adding,
though, that Santa Cruz is one of the most academically demanding of the
University of California sites.)
If that wasn't enough, at the end of your year you'll have
a continent to explore. Even the small part of America that I saw was
enough to catalogue as a valuable life experience, and the cheaper cost
of almost everything you can think of makes it manageable.
The Education Abroad Programme is largely affordable, manageable to get
into, and represents an opportunity you may never have again. Do it.
Students' experiences studying abroad
Read about our student's experiences studying abroad
Student travels
Read about our students walking the Camino de Santiago
Tel: +44 (0) 1524 594260 Fax: +44 (0) 1524 594238 Email: ppr@lancaster.ac.uk