By DMELVIN
I came to Lancaster University with almost no expectations. I knew the weather was going to be terrible and the campus not as nice as Rollins. However, Lancaster turned into one of the best experiences of my life and one I will never forget. Living on campus at Lancaster is different compared to Rollins because mostly everyone is a first year student. So, as a 21 year old kid, I am living in a co-ed “flat” with 18 and 19 year old students. That took some adjusting for me because I was one of the oldest in the group. I lived in Bowland College in a 12 person flat. There were other study abroad students from Pennsylvania with me, so it was nice to have other Americans as neighbors. The study abroad staff at Lancaster is pretty much nonexistent, for me that was okay, just make sure to be very friendly to other study abroad students in orientations and get to know other people not just from England. I was blessed to make friends with people from Italy, France, Netherlands, and Belgium. Before I got to know my flat mates better, I hung out with the study abroad group a lot in the beginning. Night life in Lancaster was a lot better than I would have thought. I am not one for going to clubs, but it is the only thing that students do in Lancaster, so I said why not. It will be very hard to adjust back to Porch at Rollins again because of how much fun I had the Lancaster student club they had downtown.
Public transportation is something I had to get used to. None of my friends had cars or even a license. Buses go right into the campus and can take you all the way to Preston, downtown Lancaster, or Morecambe. I loved taking trains. I am a huge soccer fan and my main reason for going to England was for going to games. All I had to do was take a bus to the station and then a train to the game. I was lucky to go to the stadiums of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Morecambe, Blackburn, AFC Fylde, and Burnley. You haven’t really lived if you’ve never sat front row watching Burnley v Tottenham on a cold rainy night at the Turf Moor for 20 quid. Trains allowed me to have the freedom to go anywhere. One time I woke up and decided to go to Spain for a game. I took a midnight bus to London and then a 15 dollar flight to northern Spain. Those kind of experiences are why I wanted to study abroad.
Classes at Lancaster are not difficult. There is no attendance, all the lectures are recorded, and no homework. What could go wrong? My economics classes had two grades. One was an essay due before Easter break, and the other was an exam in mid June. My classes all ended March 23rd. However, I had to wait for exams in May and June. As long as you are prepared and study, classes are not bad at all.
Easter break was my favorite part of studying abroad because I backpacked central Europe. I started on March 25th and ended my journey April 26th. I travelled from Nertherlands to Germany, then to Denmark, a flight to Hungary, Austria, Germany again, Czech Republic with my flatmates, Switzerland, and then 10 days in Italy to close out the trip. I have never been outside of the United States before and I made sure to visit everything I could. I also went to a lot of soccer games on my journey. I stayed with a friend of mine’s dad in Munster, Germany and we went to the local teams game. A culture shock there was how bikes are taking over cars. We rode for miles and miles throughout the city one day. Another game was in Napoli, Italy with a fraternity alumni friend who is staying in the area which was a really good time.
Someone from my host culture would view my experience as an experience where I got to see almost everything and witness a bunch of cultures in such a short time. From their perspective they are just trying to make it through school whereas I was trying to make the most of my time abroad.
Overall, I loved my time at Lancaster University and would recommend to anyone that can withstand a lot of rainy weather, thick accents, and a positive attitude meeting new people and living in a new culture.