My study abroad experience

Making friends before you arrive at your destination

In January 2020, I got on a flight to California where I would spend the next six months at San Diego State University. Before travelling, I was added to an international students Facebook group that included all incoming international students. Through this group I found a girl from Scotland. We started talking on Facebook messenger where we arranged to book the same flights and sat next to each other on the plane. We’ve been close friends ever since!

Accommodation

Once I arrived on campus, I moved into my dorm room. I shared a room with another international student from Taiwan and we became good friends. We spent many nights watching Netflix series, cooking and sharing our stories from back home. The student staff members who lived in the residence halls were super friendly, supportive and always made sure we were having a good time in our dorm building. They took all of us international students on a campus tour when we moved in and told us about many cool places to visit, things to do and places to eat at.

It was great being able to walk to all my classes, the on-campus restaurants and being constantly surrounded by other students and my friends. We also had a stadium on campus called the Viejas Arena where we attended the men’s basketball games which were incredibly popular. Each game was full of school spirit that undoubtedly fuelled the Aztecs 26-game winning streak! As students, we also got access to free tickets through an app (if you were quick enough!)

Exploring my surroundings

San Diego was a beautiful city to explore. My favourite place was Sunset Cliffs where many students spent their evenings hanging out with friends whilst watching the sunset over the water. The weather was almost always over 20 degrees and it wasn’t too cold at night either. The international office at the uni arranged a city tour and a trip to San Diego Zoo a few days after we arrived. Some of the other places we stopped at were Scripps Park, Mount Soledad, Old Town, Belmont Park, Tuna Harbour and Pacific Beach.

Studying

The academic side of things were very different to the way things ran back home at Leeds Beckett. My classes were longer and some even went well into the evening. My Criminology course at Beckett was mainly essay based but at San Diego I was assessed through midterm and final exams, cumulative pop quizzes, and reports. It was nice to experience being assessed in new ways and meeting many interesting professors.  

Exploring outside of the city

Whilst studying abroad I made sure that I not only got to know my new city but also that I travelled outside of San Diego to nearby places too. I took a day trip to Palm Springs with a couple of friends. Whilst there we visited Salvation Mountain, the Art Museum, Elvis’ Honeymoon Hideaway, took the ariel cable cars up to Mount San Jacinto State Park, Joshua Tree National Park and more. A group of us also took a trip to Las Vegas and visited Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. Some of us even went to Tijuana, Mexico as San Diego is right next to the country’s border! 

Even though the pandemic started during my exchange, I still managed to have a life changing and positive experience. The transition from in person classes to online learning was manageable as the international office at San Diego State University and at Leeds Beckett were very supportive and constantly checked in with me.

I hope many more students will consider studying abroad and take the opportunity to experience university life in a different country and culture just like I did!