Sophie Durham

I wanted to study abroad because, despite growing up traveling, I never had a fully immersive foreign experience. I first chose to attend the UC Center in Paris because I wanted to advance my knowledge of the French language in a French-speaking country. Studying at a French university would not have been possible because I didn't know enough of the language, so the UC Center provided the perfect balance between studying the French language at an appropriate level for my skills and learning more about French culture (in English). I later chose to attend the University of Edinburgh in Scotland because I wanted to experience attending a foreign university. I had to attend a school in a country that spoke English, however, because I needed to take classes for credit for my major. This narrowed down my options, and after lots of research I chose Edinburgh because it was in a country I had never traveled to before and would provide a totally new experience for me.

I think the most interesting cultural experience I had while in Scotland was participating in a ceilidh-- a traditional Scottish dance. It was overwhelming, scary, fast-paced, and really really fun.

The biggest concern of mine was that I would not be able to take classes that would transfer back to my major. There wasn't really an equivalent of a media studies major at the University of Edinburgh, so I had to get creative and take classes that would usually be out of my comfort zone. But I worked with advisors both through UCEAP and Edinburgh, and settled on classes that were new and different to anything I've studied before.

I would wake up, go to a nearby cafe or coffee shop to do some reading or work on a paper, go to campus for class (usually an hour or two a day), go to the gym, and then head home before meeting up with friends later that night.

I took two classes that would count towards credit for Media Studies: Popular Music, Technology, and Society, and the Psychology of Music. I also took a Roman history class for fun, which may count for a L&S breadth requirement. The Popular Music course was technically for undergrads and graduate students, which was intimidating, but we only met once a week and wrote two papers for our final grade. The Psychology of Music class was structured more like the Berkeley classes that I've taken, as we met twice a week for a few hours, had a discussion section once every other week, and wrote a paper and took an exam for our final grade. The Roman history class assigned a lot of reading each week, we met three times a week in lecture, once every other week for discussion, and took an in-class quiz, wrote an essay, and took an exam for our final grade. The classes were very different than my typical Berkeley classes, but I think the main difference was the way the classes were graded and the number of hours we spent in class each week.

The most meaningful aspect of my time abroad was being able to explore the city and see something new every single day. Edinburgh is deceptively small, and I was never short on fun things to do.

I think that studying abroad made me more relaxed about my coursework, but in a beneficial way. I am also much more comfortable with new experiences. After all, if you can walk into a foreign university as a new student, knowing almost no one, there's not much you really can't do.

I would recommend that students look for programs that fit their needs, and really think about what they want to get out of it. For Edinburgh, I would make sure you can take classes that you're comfortable with.