Cougs Abroad Blog Squad asks me to consider aspects of life in my country that the average tourist would not have to experience and that have influenced my personal growth in the process of living in Scotland. After 67 days here my greatest challenge continues to be adapting to differences in the structure of academics and living at my new university, a part of life distinctly outside the realm of tourism, and how I believe these things have made me a more independent person and student.
While the scenery, weather, atmosphere, and people of Scotland naturally all have their differences to the US, my greatest learning curve was settling in to my dorm and adjusting to life on campus. In the past two years I have exclusively lived either at home or at WSU for greater periods of time, so getting used to new living conditions was the first order of business. Immediately I was struck by the solitude that my dorm, Geddes, provided, as every room is a single and no Resident Advisors/Assistants live on each floor. While the hall does have its own hall assistants (referred to as Accommodation Liaison Students) that live in the building, their role in student life in the dorm was mostly present in the first week as we moved in and to regular checks of kitchens and floors. There was one hall meeting that I recall at the beginning of the year and a smattering of fun hall events, but nothing similar the RA program at WSU, which has been an interesting twist for on-campus life abroad.
Orienting myself to the facilities on campus came entirely in the form of word of mouth from floormates who had lived here the previous semester or had an earlier week to explore. I would never have found the laundry facilities (in a building a few minutes down the street, which operates on a £4 or $6 card for a few washes and dries) without guidance from a floormate down the hall, nor would I have understood the bus system (public transportation in general is fantastic in the UK), found places to eat on campus, or located the two buildings on campus that contain classrooms without trial-and-error exploration. While I first was confused by this approach to university life for new students, who at WSU may receive instructions for laundry, kitchen and other basic facilities in a crash course from their RA at the beginning of the year, I am glad in retrospect for the chance to figure things out on my own.
Cooking my own food for all three meals has become an interesting task in itself that I don’t expect a tourist to Scotland would engage in regularly. While in the past at WSU I frequented the dining halls, Stirling does not have the conventional “cafeteria” but a few different eateries open for lunch or into the night, as well as an on-campus grocery store. As such the cheaper option is to stock up and make lunch and dinner at home, usually in the company of other floormmates, and I have managed so far to feed myself after arriving with basically no knowledge of cooking (pasta is a great invention). The presence of a full kitchen is a nice amenity and I found I enjoy making my own food most of the time.
The academics in Scotland have their own differences in terms of programs, but perhaps the most difficult challenge is the lack of graded material assigned in each class, as my entire grade for at least two of my classes is based on the submission of two essays. While other content is assigned for reading and discussion purposes, it has been difficult for me to adjust to the system in these upper-division equivalents as I am expected to already know how to write and submit essays to the department and to have my grade rely entirely on two pieces of writing. I am crossing my fingers for good marks on my most recent submission, which, in contrast to essays submitted to classes I have had at WSU, was assigned only in the course handbook and was not mentioned by the instructor prior to its submission. No verbal outline of expectations, submission of rough drafts for early review, or any other process of what I have experienced in classes back home accompanied these heavily-weighted essays for two of my classes. However I feel that this sort of grading has made me a more independent student in terms of finishing my work for discussion; since nothing is graded it would be easy to slack off, but I have been more diligent about preparing for class so that I can get the most out of it.
My classes are going well so far and I believe that I am finally managing to adjust to life on the Stirling campus, just in time for me to leave! In just a few short weeks my time here will be winding to a close, as I have two more weeks of instruction followed by an examination period, during which I have two essays due and an exam in introductory psychology. I hope my efforts will translate into good grades, and that I can use part of the examination period after my psychology test is finished to travel one last time around Scotland and the rest of the UK.
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