Hello everyone:)
I’m kicking off my exchange blog from the very beginning – sharing things I wish I knew before I started, helpful tips for getting settled, and what it’s like starting life in London during winter. Plus, a few personal experiences from my time at Kingston University!
From the very beginning of university, I always wanted to do an exchange semester. Especially, knowing my degree was five years long, I knew that somewhere in between I wanted to experience living abroad away from home and I felt my fourth year was the perfect opportunity to do this. The opportunity to travel, live independently, make new friends, learn more about myself through this journey and explore different cultures seemed so exciting and I’m incredibly grateful for this once in a lifetime experience.
At the end of December, I arrived in London, and by January 3rd my exchange officially began. I studied my marketing major at Kingston University London as part of my Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Our universities orientation week kicked off with an introduction day where all exchange students toured one of the four campuses and attended a presentation where we learned more about the university, exchange process, and student life. It was a super helpful way to settle in and meet people, especially when you know very little about the city! We had both a fun exchange student pub night and even a trip to Windsor Palace planned by Kingston University, this was wonderful way to see an iconic landmark, explore Windsor, and connect with other exchange students early on. It definitely helped ease me into exchange life and make some new friends.
Beginning this exchange, I was both excited and nervous. I was excited to live in a new country, especially London as this was my dream city for so long, I was excited to meet new people and make new friends, and finally I was excited have the chance to explore and travel around Europe as it was a lot closer to and easier to while in London. But I was nervous because I had never lived alone and away from my family and friends, especially not 25 hours away and being 13 hours time difference meaning had limited time to speak to them and nervous about how the experience would go and if I would make friends and all, but after realising I have this once in a life opportunity and I’m in London, I made the most of it and it took all those anxieties and negative thoughts away. And after getting settled in, meeting new people, making my friends, putting myself out there, and exploring any chance I could was what made it all worth it and coming in that much better.
Also, luckily, in the beginning I had my mum with me for the first 2.5 weeks, which made settling in a lot easier. During this time, we explored so much of London in such a short spam of time! A major highlight in the start was definitely celebrating my first London New Years and seeing all the festive Christmas markets and lights displayed all over the city, that I always saw online. Seeing all the famous landmarks for the first time with my mum like the London Eye, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Notting Hill, was the perfect way to start this chapter!
When I started this exchange, I was both excited and nervous. I was excited because I’d always wanted to experience living in a new country and dreamed of living in London, I couldn’t wait to meet new people, experience life in my favourite city, and finally travel across Europe. But at the same time, I was nervous, as I’d never lived alone or been away from home – let alone 25 hours away with a 13 hour time difference, having restricted communication. I worried about feeling lonely, if I’d make genuine friends, and adjusting to a whole new environment. Although, once I reminded myself this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, there is so many other people in the same shoes as me, and that all things take time – everything changed. I took away all negative thoughts and continued to embrace every chance I had to meet new people, explore different places and countries, and make memories – this helped ease all those worries, and I quickly settled into a rhythm that made my time so special.
A quick note to the university life in London: I found the academic side of Kingston with the workload felt a lot lighter than what I was used to back home at University of Auckland. This gave me a lot more time to explore the city, socialise, and travel.
During my exchange period of January and April, I visited two countries and saved the rest for May and June for the European Summer. The two countries I visited were Paris, France and Tromsø, Norway to see the Northern Lights — two unforgettable experiences. I fell in love with the city of love, Paris – it was absolutely beautiful and I could not recommend visiting it more. Also Tromsø was a milestone experience! It was such a small but naturally beautiful city, reminded me a little bit of home, and the city of Queenstown but with a lot more snow. Visiting Tromsø I experienced my first snowfall, saw the northern lights, and was in the arctic circle which was so surreal.
Finally, for my general education paper, Kingston University offers a course called British Life & Culture — designed specifically for exchange students to gain a deeper understanding of British history and culture. The course also includes seven organised trips throughout the semester, giving students the chance to visit historic UK landmarks, explore iconic London buildings, and experience other cultural highlights. Some of the trips included visiting Stonehenge and Bath, touring the Houses of Parliament, watching Macbeth live at the Globe Theatre, exploring Windsor Palace, and much more! These were some exciting experiences that I might not have done otherwise and was a great way to form closer friendships with other exchange students.
Overall, starting this exchange felt daunting, but it’s been one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made. It pushed me outside my comfort zone in the best way, and I’ve already made memories I’ll treasure forever. Also Kingston University efforts hosting exchange student orientation events was genuinely the best!
Next blog I’ll be sharing my favourite parts of doing exchange, my London highlights, and more advice for anyone thinking of doing an exchange here!
- Navya Misra ♡