Envisioning a New Life and the Best You in Belfast, Northern Ireland

I was living and working in Chiang Mai, Thailand when I couldn’t envision myself living in Northern Ireland. I was looking to take the next step in my healthcare career, so I decided to pursue a master’s degree and applied to Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) based on their cost of living and studying. The more I read about the classes and what we would cover in their Master of Public Health programme, the more excited I felt. It would be my second year living outside of the U.S. and despite being nervous at the thought of leaving to a new country again, I could only commit and hope that it was the right fit.

I visited my parents in Washington State, packed up my things for the international move, applied for the student visa, all the while I still couldn’t quite picture what my life would be like in Belfast. QUB was supportive through the visa process, and all the way through boarding a train to arriving at my new accommodation in the middle of the city, I was surrounded by Irish accents helping me with directions and instructions. I quickly learned to pack a raincoat in spite of clear skies as they could quickly turn, that Chinese food somehow involved fries, and that wee wasn’t always actually that wee. Despite trying to acclimate quickly to my new environment, I devolved into a despair at receiving my first grade. A 51; a simple pass. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt that low, not failing rather than thriving was not what I had pictured. Yet in order to have the life and year I hadn’t been able to envision before, I pushed through.

My decision to move to the UK to be a student stopped being defined by the more affordable tuition fees and cost of living, the shorter programme timeline, and the opportunity to travel, and my positive experience became what I made it. I applied to be an international student ambassador for QUB and began blogging, trying to help other incoming students learn what to expect and what opportunities may be there for them. I learned to balance my work schedule with my studies and social life, getting a movie theatre membership and making consistent use of my accommodation’s computer lab. I learned to accept the passing grades without feeling as though my ego was hit and to celebrate the grades that came with distinction or merits. I hosted a Peruvian culture hour in my department as the only Latin American in my cohort and was so touched that my fellow classmates attended to learn and eat.

I soon began to realise the full extent of the benefits made available to me by living and studying in the UK. For the first time, I didn’t have to sort through mountains of health insurance information, I could simply reach out when I needed to. I was able to interview a leader in the Aconchego Programme, a Portuguese programme that pairs an elderly person seeking company and a young adult studying in Portugal needing accommodation, and I published a blog on it in the hopes that a QUB student may find it helpful for studying in mainland Europe. I was able to use a travel scholarship to visit the Hogeweyk Dementia Village in the Netherlands as my research and work centers primarily on the elderly. While these were large benefits of being a QUB student, the smaller things helped make my life feel right. A daily thermos full of tea for my short walk to campus, which my accommodation provided for free. Being able to get all around the city on the bus for an affordable capped daily amount. Learning that Belfast is a diverse city, especially reflected in my cohort’s make-up, so that I could continue learning about other cultures and perspectives.

Now, in the midst of my dissertation work, I can’t envision having chosen a different place to complete my master’s degree. I found a passion for global health after seeing other professors so passionate about what they have done in their careers, and I decided to specialise in global health under my public health degree. I was lucky enough to be paired with an excellent advisor who understood my passion for gerontology and working with vulnerable populations.

From struggling to picture myself living in Belfast because I had never been anywhere in the UK to making the most of this opportunity, I learned that you have to shape and act out the vision of what you want your potential life in the UK to be. I flew across the pond more than once in my career but settled on a programme and in a place where I could make myself into the most successful version of me.

– Diana