If I have to put a word to my exchange year, it is definitely the best word in the world. My full year at the University of Leeds in England is absolutely and entirely perfect! The university itself supports student engagement and wellbeing and it often hosts events, fairs, and late-night social gatherings for night owls like me. This also means you don’t have to worry about not having any chance to make connections since you will already find your group of people at the start of the school year! The campus is packed with different buildings that are within your reach so that you can easily access multiple of them within technically the same area. Besides my local peers, I did not expect to meet so many friends from Germany, the Netherlands, China, France, and many other places.
To briefly cover the academic part of my exchange life, I usually get two essays from each of my three modules in both semesters as an English/History student. The University of Leeds does track student attendance for lectures and seminars among exchange students. In terms of teaching styles, the university expects students to be very independent in their studies, such that you may drop by the instructors’ office hours for any questions while they won’t necessarily go over their expectations for the assessments in class. This teaching style leaves room for students to take the initiative to reach out to their instructors and build connections with them.
For housing/accommodations, I applied to one of the residence halls of the university: Central Village. This place is located on the edge of campus, providing students with easy access to both the campus and the city center of Leeds. Since it’s a school residence hall, you are mostly living with other local, international/exchange, and graduate students at this place. It has four blocks positioned on four corners of a courtyard, allowing students many opportunities to meet their peers and neighbours. Students may also choose to live off-campus, through referencing Unipol and other residential resources offered on the university’s website. My personal advice is to apply to one of the school’s residences for chances to meet, know, and make connections with your fellow peers, and for easy access to multiple facilities that are frequently approached by students (e.g., student community centre, supermarkets, bars/restaurants, etc.). Note that the application for student accommodations at the Uni of Leeds opens and closes early, so please do manage your time accordingly!
My personal growth coming out of this exchange experience is the further development of my independence. The independence of living by myself in a foreign country, where I constantly push myself out of my comfort zone to discover new and meaningful things to do. As well, I continuously motivate myself to reach out to my professors and tutors for clarifications or simply check-ins on assignments and final assessments throughout the year. Last but not least, my biggest advice for future exchange students is to do extra research on your host school and country before you start packing so that you can bring things you really need with you!
