My study abroad experience in St Andrews by Sofia Gerace
Sofia Gerace is an inbound student from the Sorbonne in Paris. She is spending this year in St Andrews studying IR, Management and German. Below is an account of her experience so far.
“In normal times, St Andrews is a very lovely place to study” – that’s the sentence that all us Erasmus students have heard most since we came to Scotland. From the taxi driver that took me to Mcintosh Hall to the students I have met in my tutorials and at different societies. Even a woman working for the NHS said while checking on me when I had to isolate: “I am really sorry you came from abroad and are experiencing this right now, usually St Andrews is such a nice place and students have an amazing time”. I am definitely aware that this is the most unusual year abroad ever and that in this town, there is always much more going on. However, at the end of this first semester, I can definitely say that my ‘St Andrews experience’ has lived up to my expectations.
I arrived in September and the first person I met was the university taxi driver who drove me from Edinburgh to St Andrews. During the journey, he kept telling me stories about the small Scottish places we were passing through. I could not really understand everything he was saying but that was my very first introduction to this wonderful country: interesting people with many stories to tell. I immediately felt ‘welcome’ here in Scotland. St Andrews is a beautiful place and it is even better than I pictured it. The mixture between the Scottish architecture and the vastness of the North Sea is amazing. For a person like me coming from the chaos of a big city, living in the tiny town of St Andrews with the chance to walk by the sea every day is like living in a fairy tale.
I have been staying in Mcintosh Hall and I have the chance to share my everyday life with students coming from all over the world. One amazing thing is that in my household we are 15 girls and we come from at least 8 different countries. After living in Paris and studying at the Sorbonne, I wasn’t really sure if I was going to find the international environment I was used to, but the truth is that I’ve rarely had a more international experience than in this small Scottish town. There is a continuous sharing of cultures with people coming from all over the world and as an international student I felt integrated in the student community from the very first moment. Every student has an interesting story to tell and being surrounded by so many cultures is making me learn something new literally every day.
Unfortunately, classes began online but my teachers have been trying their best to make it work. In my different tutorials there were no more than 6 students and everyone always had the chance to participate in the class. This created the perfect environment for students coming from abroad, especially those who are not used to speaking the language and may tend to stay quiet. I really appreciated the efforts made by the professors in each module I was following. In my IR tutorial for example, my teacher never started the class by talking about the topic but the very first question was always: ‘how are you all doing?’. Also, in Management, the professor came to class wearing a mask with a clear panel for lipreading. I think that nobody was actually able to see his mouth because of the distance that we had to keep between each other, but this gesture still shows that professors are really trying to make this situation more bearable for students.
I remember that during the Erasmus study abroad campaign at my university, the biggest concern for the students who wanted to come to the United Kingdom was Brexit and the fear that it might prevent us from coming to the UK. Of course, we had no idea that the pandemic and the worst crisis of the modern times was approaching. The most difficult moment since I came to Scotland was when I had to isolate for two weeks because of a positive case in my household. Honestly, that was not easy at all. However, the support from the students in my household who were in the same situation as me, or also the kindness of the university catering staff and all my classmates that found a moment to check on me during quarantining, helped me a lot and lifted my spirit even when days seemed endless. Times are not easy for Erasmus students and these months did not really reflect the typical year abroad. However, I have been trying to make the most of it. I am meeting so many interesting people and I know that, along with the enriching academic experience from learning at the University of St Andrews, I will go back home at the end of the year with many amazing stories to tell.