WORKSHEET PLACEMENTS AND STUDYING ABROAD

Challenge task: How do you think travelling abroad helped students intheirspecificsubject areas?

Look at these three different student blogs on studying abroad and then answer the questions below: Blog 1: Physicist in AmericaBlog 2: Drama Down Under!Blog 3: Taiwan, the Hidden Gem of East Asia

Studying Abroad

There are many opportunities to study abroad whilst at University. For this section, you will be exploring different student experiences of travelling abroad.

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Try to answer as many of the following questions:

1. What different countries have students travelled to in these blogs?

2. Can you see any different university courses that the students are on?

3. Note down an interesting experience during their year abroad from each student blog:

Blog 1.

Blog 2.

Blog 3.

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WORKSHEET PLACEMENTS AND STUDYING ABROAD

BLOG 1: PHYSICIST IN AMERICA

My name is Elliot and I am a Physics and Mathematics student currently studying abroad at Purdue University in Indiana. Last year at Loughborough I was in my 3rd year and I was the department chair for Physics. I have hopes of completing my masters and going on to get my PhD. I bet you’re wondering how a physicist-in-training ends up in the American mid-west?

Approachingmyfinalyear,Ireallywantedtodevelopintoaresearcher,soIthought a year studying abroad in a new environment with different modules wouldgivemeanedge.Also,Ilovetotravel!AfterIfinishatPurdue,Iwanttotravel the states, then do a teaching and volunteering tour of South East Asia before I return home. Thanks to Loughborough, I was able to apply to study abroad, and here I am! FYI – if you decide to come to the mid-west US, it’s hot, like really hot, and everything is so much bigger!

ArrivingWhenyouarrivethefirstthingis,don’tpanic.Thesecondthingis,youaregoingtopanic.Thethirdthingis,it’sokaytopanic.Youhavejustflownthousandsof miles and left everyone you know behind! When I arrived, I was supposed to land in Chicago, but due to bad weather ended up in Milwaukee, thankfully things got sorted, but stuff will go wrong and there isn’t much you can do to fixthat,justrollwithit!However,youcanbeorganised;makelists!I’mold-fashioned so I did a paper list but write down essential things you need to do whenyouarrive,suchas;checkinwiththeuniversity,setupabankaccount,go to the doctor and apply for social security. If you need help, speak to the university, they are there to help you and also check in with your supervisor back home.

InmyfirstcoupleofmonthshereIhave:beentryingtosellLoughboroughasastudy abroad options to Americans, as you can see in the lovely photo above. I triedmybestatfiringafewroundsoffreedom,butmyaimisn’tverygood.I’vealso taken part in multiple events for international science students, including a trip to Chicago and a corn maze excursion. I’ve attended all the home American Football games, or more accurately, ‘hand egg ball’. It feels like the rest of the world turn up to these events too – incredibly, at least 40 000 people regularly turn up to the university games and that’s not just students, its half the town!

So right now, I am going into the 8th week of term and I am absolutely loving it over here. Although I do have to keep telling them how to spell ‘colour’ correctly and I keep looking the wrong way when crossing the street. For the next year I may be chanting boiler up, but in my heart, I will always walk on water.

Hi Where are

you from?

Hi Where are

you from?

WORKSHEET PLACEMENTS AND STUDYING ABROAD

BLOG 2: DRAMA DOWN UNDER!

If you read my initial blog, the plan was to study abroad at Virginia Tech in the USA. Well change of plan… I am currently studying at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia as part of my degree. I guess I just thought if I’m going to do this, why not travel half way across the world! My decision to study abroad is honestly one of the best decisions I’ve made. I am without a doubt having an amazing time. This opportunity and placement sandwich year were some of the main reasons why I decided to go to Loughborough University.

There are loads of different trips here. This month, I’m booking a trip to Bali with the friends I’ve made here. So far we’ve planned on going to the elephant safaripark,allthelovelybeaches,surfingandgoingonahike!InSeptemberI’m planning to explore North Western Australia, with others at Curtin! We will be feeding wild dolphins, swimming with whale sharks at Shark Bay, a glass bottom boat and snorkelling tour and visiting the Nigaloo Reef. I couldn’t be more excited. Then before I come home at Christmas time, I hope to visit Melbourne and Sydney and I am desperate to see the Great Barrier Reef!

Aside from the sightseeing, even my accommodation here looks like a holiday home;I’mwalkingaroundthinkingabouthowdifferentitalllooks.Myfriendsalmost always laugh at my fascination with the trees here, they’re so tall and there are palm trees! Perth itself is amazing, after only being here two weeks I have already visited Fremantle, Scarborough Beach, City Beach, Hilary Boat Harbour, Kings Park, and next weekend we’re heading to Rottnest Island on a ferry.

Curtin arranges frequent barbecues and there’s been some unusual foods on offer. My village made a Kangaroo curry for our welcome meal and they even serve shark on chips. I’ve still not tried it but must say I’m intrigued! There’s also loads of random really cool aesthetics here such as paintings, random bean bags, hammocks and they even have sleeping pods in the library!

Ok so you probably want to know what the student life is like here, I’m currently doing Screen Arts and Theatre. The modules/units I’ve chosen are actually really enjoyable, I’m doing Experimental Screens, Technical Theatre Fundamentals, CollaborativeTheatreandScreenPractices.Theyincludemakingfilms,writingscripts and being trained in production side of theatre, with lighting, sound, stage management and costume. I am studying Shakespearean and Greek theatre whichIfindreallyinteresting.Ialsogettowatchandanalysefilms,whichispretty cool! There’s also a lot of clubs available here, although not as many as Loughborough offers I must admit. I have joined cheerleading, photography club, and literacy volunteering for children.

Anyway I best get to my lecture! Hope all you prospective students achieved the exam results you wanted, get yourselves to Loughborough!

Hi Where are

you from?

Hi Where are

you from?

WORKSHEET PLACEMENTS AND STUDYING ABROAD

BLOG 3: TAIWAN, THE HIDDEN GEM OF EAST ASIA

Why do a placement in a less well-known place? Well because in all likelihood it willbethemostfulfillingexperienceofyourlife! Imagine this: you are in a plane, with just a few hours to go until you reach a countryyoureallydon’tknowmuchabout,readytostartyourfirst6monthlonginternship. You don’t know anyone and you don’t speak the language – with the exception of the very common ‘hello’. How does that sound to you? Scary? Exciting? Interesting? Brave? No matter what your answer is, this experience will surpass all expectations and make memories that will last a lifetime.

Not only will you meet some amazing people who share similar interests to you, as well as being in the same situation, but you will become a lot more independent and grow through the unforgettable memories you will make along the way. It’s a challenging experience, but also a rewarding one. I am extremely grateful for Loughborough University, InternChina and VIA Technologies for giving me the opportunity to experience this.

Work EnvironmentIremembermyfirstdayofworkveryclearly.Outsidetemperature:35°C.Humidity:75%.Me:stressed!Fortunately,everythingwentreallywellandIgotused to the work environment quickly. Everyone in our department at VIA is very friendly and helpful and I am going to miss our morning conversations with my Taiwanese and international co-workers while making a cup of tea in the kitchen. Now, I’m one month away from completing my internship, where I gained many insightful experiences in the technology industry and a clearer vision for my career path. Sadly, my time in Taiwan is slowly coming to an end.

As an intern at VIA, I have been given real projects to work on, with tasks including market research, concept development, content creation, creating Google Ad campaigns, data analytics and contributing to a new product launch. Together with the other interns, who became my very close friends, we prepare presentations for our departmental weekly meetings where we update the rest of the team on the progress of our projects, present our ideas and discuss future steps and tasks. I can’t imagine not seeing them every day after I leave!

Cultural DifferencesIn Slovakia, we eat a lot of potatoes. Getting to Taiwan, I tried a wide array of meals based on dumplings, noodles and rice, and without forgetting to mention theworld-famousbubbletea,whichyoucanfindanywhereandeverywherehere. The food wasn’t the only thing that was very new and different: scooters riding from all directions, garbage trucks that play music or living in an area with very few Westerners were some of the things I wasn’t used to. In the end, I am very grateful that I could call this wonderful place home for the past few months and immerse myself into the totally different but very interesting culture. I have also managed to save money for trips and together with friends travelled around Taiwan and to other countries like Indonesia, Japan or Philippines.

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