Students' Views

Here are a selection of views from students who have all studied abroad at RHUL recently.

• Kyle Mohr, Miami University, Oxford, OH
• Felicia Carey, Smith College, Northampton, MA
• Masha Kapustina, Bryn Mawr College, PA
• Yeon Jeong Kim, Korea University, Seoul.

 

Kyle Mohr

Miami University, Oxford, Ohio - RHUL January-June 2007

Studying abroad should be much more than simply taking classes in a different environment; it should be a comprehensive immersion in a different culture, in which you learn as much, if not more, outside of the classroom than you do in it. Royal Holloway possesses the distinction of not only providing stimulating classroom instruction from excellent professors; for me, the five months I spent there proved to be one of the most exciting and happiest times of my life.

Living with British students was one of the highlights of my stay at Royal Holloway, and in addition to learning about the British way of life (which could often be very different from that in the U.S.), I formed many close friendships. It’s nice to know that whenever I go back to London, I’ll have a place to crash!

Availing oneself of the opportunities in London is a must; the city is simply incredible, and both the size and the diverse population guarantee that you cannot possibly discover everything it has to offer in a mere five months. I thoroughly enjoyed being shown around by my friends…and the nightlife is amazing. For anyone interested in music, I highly recommend getting to know Drum and Bass at Fabric.

The local area around Royal Holloway is also quite charming. The rustic surroundings of Egham and Englefield Green are ideal for studying, while Staines is just 5 minutes away and offers a big movie theater and a decent amount of restaurants. Windsor Great Park is an excellent place to take a walk or jog, and the Happy Man quickly became my favourite pub.

In addition to all of the wonderful opportunities available at Royal Holloway and the UK, England is also ideally situated to travel Europe; cheap flights on Ryan Air from Stansted airport are always available, to all parts of Europe.

In short, my time in London was one of the happiest times of my life. I enjoyed my classes at Royal Holloway, and most especially enjoyed getting to know my fellow British students. The peaceful surroundings of the campus are balanced by the tremendous excitement of London, and traveling to all parts of Europe was extremely easy. I believe I can safely say that my time at Royal Holloway was exactly what the ideal study abroad experience should be.

 

Felicia Carey

Smith College, Northampton, MA - RHUL January-June 2007

Choosing where to study abroad for the spring semester of my junior year was a daunting task.  Deciding to study in England was easy.  I'm an English major at Smith College. My passion is 18th and early 19th century British literature. However, the decision of where to study in England was harder to make. I wanted a study abroad program that would be academically flexible, provide a social setting where I could get to know British students, and was located close to London. Royal Holloway more than met my criteria. It exceeded my expectations.

Royal Holloway offers a flexible study program. Since British students tend to take classes in only one discipline, many of the British universities that I looked at only allowed study abroad students to take classes in their major. As much as I love English literature, having other study options available to me was important.  I took English and History classes at Royal Holloway.  I loved my classes. 

My lecturers were very passionate about their subject matter.  I received more personal attention from the lecturers than I had expected. For example, I was frequently asked to offer an American perspective on British issues.  My lecturers were also more than willing to assist me in my adjustment to a new way of learning.
           

I was also concerned about how easy it would be to meet British students.  Some of my friends who had studied in London before had had difficulty making friends with British students.  I chose Royal Holloway partly because Smith students who had studied at Royal Holloway had noted making strong friendships with British students. I was fortunate to make friends in classes, within my flat, and at the four campus pubs. I formed very close friendships with my British and Korean flat mates. We would have themed dinners, go shopping, and take daytrips together. The housing situation was fabulous. We shared a kitchen, but each had our own single room with a private bathroom.

I think that I was able to make many connections with the students at Royal Holloway because its campus was self-contained, not spread out all over the city of London.  Royal Holloway was close enough to London for me to spend a lot of time there without experiencing the everyday stresses of city life. It was nice to return to the English countryside after popping into London to see a show, visit a museum, or going shopping.

I was sad to leave Royal Holloway after having spent such a wonderful semester there. However, I will never forget all that I learned in my classes, the friendships that I made, and my experiences exploring London. I will definitely return to London in the future.

 

Masha Kapustina

Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA - RHUL January - June 2006

The most fascinating truth about my Royal Holloway experience is that in one semester, my life unexpectedly changed. Now, at the end of it, I am leaving Royal Holloway as a different person: I discovered my long searched-for academic passion, immensely expanded my cultural and political horizons, and found my true love.

A native Russian, I am doing an independent major in Theatre Design and it was challenging to find a good school abroad since very few universities offer Theatre Design. I was recommended Royal Holloway as a school with the best theatre department in the UK and one of the best ones in Europe. When I came here in January 2006, it turned out that this was very true! From the moment I arrived at Heathrow, I was made very welcome and after the first three days, I felt totally at home.

Through excursions, trips & dinners organized by Royal Holloway for orientation week, I met people who became my friends and classmates.

My theatre academic experience here was bigger than life and I am not exaggerating! Not only did I take classes of astonishing variety: Japanese Noh Theatre, French Theatre since 1968, and 20th-century Scenography, I was a technical director and costume designer of Oscar Wilde’s‘Salome’, and even performed in a unique authentic Noh theatre space. I was treated as a co-worker and an equal participant of art projects by everyone throughout, from production manager to my professors. I have never before worked in such a warm and professional environment.

One day when I am very rich I will return to Royal Holloway to erect a monument commemorating my semester abroad! In September, I will resume my Theatre Design studies and I will be already a little more than just a beginning designer. Now I am already a little more than just one person because this summer I will get engaged with someone I met in the first day of orientation week at the dinner organized by Royal Holloway.

 

Yeon-jeong Kim

Korea University

RHUL September 2005 - June 2006

Hello! My name is Yeon-jeong and I studied Psychology at Royal Holloway for one year. It was my first time ever living in another country & I was initially worried about many things before coming here. However, after arrival, I soon realised that I had nothing to worry about and that deciding to study at Royal Holloway was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Royal Holloway has a well-organized Study Abroad Programme. Departmental registration, accommodation and other procedures were well-prepared. It was also very easy to adapt to my new campus life and I almost felt that I was a freshman again!

With my studies, the big differences between Korea and England were that I had many essays to write and that independent study was strongly required. However, my initial anxiety about these were resolved by the tutorials in which the professor and small numbers of students discussed the essay topic and material covered in the lectures.

The accommodation was excellent! I shared my multi-cultural flat with four English, one Cypriot, one Chinese and one Iranian student. We were almost like a family, having many parties for birthdays, Halloween and Christmas, cooking traditional foods and watching movies. They helped my studying too. Also, I joined two societies, the squash and horse riding club, and I will certainly never forget the Christmas party and the pub crawl which I had with my squash society friends! Moreover, as Royal Holloway is so multicultural, I made many friends not only from England but also America, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Austria and Italy.

I was able to satisfy another goal, travelling. Firstly, as it only takes only 40 minutes by train to get into London, I often used to go there after lectures and I saw over 20 performances of musicals, plays, ballet and opera. Secondly, in addition to the Programme’s free social activities, Royal Holloway also organized excursions to Wales, York, Leeds, Canterbury and Stratford. Thirdly, by managing my schedule effectively, during the vacations I was able to travel to France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Norway and Spain. I also participated in the voluntary work in Ireland and spent a great time with the disabled and other volunteers.

For me, one year was only like one month. It couldn’t be more precious, it couldn’t be better! I got to know numerous people, had good friends and had many valuable experiences, so I have never had any time to miss my home country. My one year at Royal Holloway will be remembered as the best year of my life.

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