MOVING ABROAD CHANGED MY LIFE

Coming to the UK had been my dream since I was a teenager. When I was in high school this agency came and gave a talk about summer abroad programs. Ever since, the dream to come to the United Kingdom settled into my mind. The years passed and I kept on dreaming, until one day I decided I was ready to do it, or at least to try. During the pandemics, I submitted my application to University of Essex.
 

UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX

When choosing university I valued the openness to international students. And University of Essex offered a very straightforward entry requirements for foreign students, in addition to their worldwide recognized research excellence. My unconditional offer came along with an International Excellence scholarship. All of this, plus the charm of a city like Colchester cemented my decision of accepting the offer. 
 

THE PROCESS

I was doing it all on my own because I thought there was no harm in just trying, but when I got my offer, I realized I needed some guidance. While researching about visa requirements and scholarships I found myself submitting my information to “Across the Pond”. Their service felt like someone holding my hand during the process. My advisor was quick and helpful with answering my queries and they may or may not know they relieved my concerns and anxiety more than once, for which I am forever grateful. The advice is not limited to documentation requirements only but it also provides a lot of useful information about what to expect in your daily life in the UK. Needless to say, Across the Pond prepared me with all the tools I needed to embark on my dream.
 

COLCHESTER

I needed a place where I could host my parents when they decided to visit so I started looking through online platforms and enquiring on my own. Luckily I came across this two bedroom flat located equally close to university as to town centre. 

Colchester is a very beautiful small city that combines the calmness of the country side and the broad spectrum of opportunities given its closeness to a big city like London. 

After settling into my new home and exploring the city, the date finally arrived to start my studies. And so my life in the UK began, Colchester became my home and I can’t be happier about it. I love the easiness of walking to the castle park on a sunny afternoon or staying at home and cozying up to a film on a rainy day. On my free time I’ve had the opportunity to visit the local theatre which offers a wide variety of shows throughout the year, I’ve been to the golf club to practice a little just for fun, visited the cinema, some pubs and restaurants. In summary I’d say Colchester has everything you need and more.
 

STUDENT LIFE

My course was a conversion course, meaning it is designed to give you all the basic knowledge that a graduate of a Psychology degree should have, but in just one year. Many of my coursemates came from different educational backgrounds, and since I had a degree in Psychology, it gave me a slight advantage in being familiar with some concepts, theories and methods.

One of the main differences I can point out between the educational programs in Mexico and the United Kingdom is the number of coursework. I remember having one coursework per module, per week, to say the least, while studying my degree in Mexico, whereas in the UK we had barely one or two per module per term. I personally feel that there is more room for real critical thinking when students can focus on just producing a good essay instead of being constantly overloaded and overworked trying to meet deadlines for multiple tasks.

For my dissertation I went into a more cognitive field, carrying out a real experiment using equipment and a laboratory provided by the department with the help of my supervisor. I used an eye-tracking device and collected visual field data from all my subjects as they walked around campus to then code the recordings and measure how many times they looked at people's faces in order to study their relationship with anxiety.
 

SOCIAL LIFE

Thanks to university I had the opportunity to meet people from many different countries, England (of course), India, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Italy, France, Spain and many more. I also joined up with some fellow Mexican students and made some very good friends with whom I explored London and all it has to offer. In my free time I like to travel, going to concerts and festivals in different cities, which has also helped me meet more and more amazing people. I also love going to museums, the theatre, exploring themed parks and recently watching sports like horse racing and tennis. Like I mentioned, the UK has a lot to offer no matter what your interests are, you can always find something. 
 

LANGUAGE BARRIER

There is no better way to test not only language proficiency, but also cognitive flexibility, resilience, and problem-solving than moving abroad. No matter how confident or accustomed you are to being bilingual, studying and living abroad is always a challenge and requires daily effort and I found studying and taking classes in English to be scary at first, but the more I was exposed to the language, the easier it became. At first I had to really focus on what the professors were saying to be able to make it make sense in my mind, but after a couple of days I felt like I was understanding everything as if they were speaking in Spanish.

Don’t be afraid of asking "what does that mean?” Or "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?”. The only way to learn is by practicing.
 

WHAT ELSE TO KNOW?

I don't think I will ever find enough words to fully describe how amazing this whole experience was. All I can say is that the memories I’ve made are invaluable. On the other side, I guess I never thought much about the challenges I could face like being ill with no one to care for me, spending my birthdays by myself or watching how my loved ones go on with their lives and having to watch from a distance. It has its ups and downs but I still think that coming to study and live in the UK was the best decision I’ve ever made. 

Across the Pond gave a seminar regarding travel preparations and things to know and I would like to share some useful tips I have gathered from both these seminars and own experience.

Don’t overpack. I have seen so many people struggling to travel from the airport to their accommodation because they have a lot of luggage with them, so my advise would be to prioritize the things you will definitely not be able to find immediately after your arrival to the UK. Pack only the essentials and figure out the rest later. 

Take the time to study the customs. Life in the UK tends to be fast-paced and calm at the same time. Don’t stand in the middle of the way, try to always keep to the right on escalators, respect the queues and remember everything is closed by 4 pm on Sundays.

Getting home from the airport If you plan to take a train from the airport, I would recommend getting a railcard in advance. It can be done online and it saves you 1/3 of the total fare of your journey. Always keep an eye out for the disruption/strike updates, you can do it by visit national rail’s website. You don’t want to be jet lagged and stuck in the airport. Alternatively, national express coaches from the airport and they have connections to everywhere in the UK.

Banking. If you wish to open a bank account, most of the regular banks require you to be living in the UK for 3 years before being able to open one. Alternatively, virtual banks like Monzo and Revolut are more accessible and equally reliable. 

SIM card. Your foreign data plan may or may not charge your extra when using it in the UK. I recommend investigating this with your provider before coming and once here, you can get a UK SIM card. Nothing wrong in wanting to keep your home country’s phone number but having a UK one can facilitate many things.

Be wary of your surroundings. I have found the UK to be a very safe country, however, remember to always be aware of your surroundings, you can never be too careful. 

- Astrid