Bethany: Monash University in Melbourne, Australia

My name is Bethany, a fourth-year student studying Language, Culture and Communication and I spent the past year studying at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. During my second year I was originally very apprehensive about taking a year abroad because I very much enjoy my home comforts and being around friends and family; so, I decided to look for a placement so that I could spend my third year doing a year in industry instead. However, after a difficult search for a placement I made the decision to apply for a year abroad placement. Unlike a lot of the other students, this decision was made very quickly and could have been extremely stressful, but both Warwick and Monash were so supportive of my decision and helped me to get through the process without being left behind on anything. So, in July 2017 I took the 27-hour journey and flew out to Melbourne!

Although my decision was very spontaneous, and I was extremely worried to start with about whether I had made the right decision, I can now say that spending the year abroad was the best decision I have ever made! I made some incredible friends on my year abroad, as well as having some amazing experiences travelling round Australia. I saw a part of the world that would never normally be available to me, and I loved every second of it. I found that the whole experience has made me a more confident, more independent person who is no longer afraid to try new things and take myself out of my comfort zone.

I have to admit that settling back into my life in the UK was a lot more difficult than I expected, but the support of my friends and family really helped and I also quickly found a part-time job to keep me occupied. Moving back to Leamington was also a strange experience, because a lot of my friends has graduated, so I realised my fourth year was going to be entirely different. But I was also extremely lucky to have some friends who were staying for fourth year, or even returning from their own years abroad. At first, I found the workload quite difficult to manage too because I had spent the past year relatively unconcerned about grades, but I quickly got back into the routine of studying hard and focusing on my grades.

I would highly recommend a year abroad to my fellow Warwick students as I think it is an experience of a lifetime which I know I would’ve regretted completely if I hadn’t taken the opportunity. It may sound cliché but spending a year in a completely different country, making memories and experiencing new things allowed me to have the best year of my life.

Tom: Copenhagen Business School

Tom is studying for a BA in Language, Culture & Communication

What inspired you to take a year aboard?
I actually didn’t really plan on going on a year abroad, and I’d never wanted to go to Copenhagen before, but the head of UG studies in CAL recommended it to me so I put it down as my only choice. I thought about spending the second half of the year at Aalto in Helsinki, but I decided it was better to fully immerse for a whole year and get a part time job than split it into two halves. I’m glad I did because I’m pretty sure I’m going to move back there after Warwick!

What was the best thing about taking the year?
It gave me a huge amount of perspective on life in general really. That and I made some really great contacts, all from very different walks of life.

What did you learn?
I learnt a lot about business and law from the university I studied at, but also a lot of practical working skills as I had three very different jobs over the year. In particular, two jobs in fashion and sustainability where I learnt a lot.

How have you found coming back to Warwick for Year 4?
The lifestyle is certainly very different back at Warwick, and it’s nice to see lots of trees again! Being away has also made me realise how much I love and value my course.

What advice would you give to others thinking about going abroad for a year?
I couldn’t recommend it more highly. Even if you don’t think you really want to do it, as I didn’t, it will be the best year of your life for sure. Mix with as many locals as possible too; it’s very easy to slip in with other immigrants but if you can get some accommodation with locals (as opposed to university accommodation) you’ll have a much better experience.