Vibe - University of Westminster

Of course, you can probably tell that I am not English, but rather Danish.   When I wanted to start university and study history, I thought to myself, would it be better back home or would I want to go somewhere else?  I think London has always been this great city that I’ve always loved when I used to visit on holiday in past years.  I’ve always loved it, and for university I certainly wanted to go somewhere more international than Denmark , which is lovely but not nearly as international as London – not that there are many places that are.  That is why I chose to come here.  Even if Americans who think they speak the same language and it’s not going to be different and easy, they find that it is not the same and things are very different, such as pop culture and they way they eat here, and students tend to get a bit confused.  The way everything works here is very different than in the US , which causes a huge shock, but that is what we are here to help them with.  We have been through it ourselves, and try to help others and reassure them that this is what study abroad is all about.  You get used to the new culture, but it takes awhile to get adjusted.  You may feel lonely and down at first, but everyone I’ve met comes to love London.

Interview Transcript

What are some advantages of studying abroad? I think the advantages of studying abroad, whether you are doing a full degree or a simple semester, is that you become more susceptible to other cultures.  I think you integrate better, in the way that you begin to understand a different culture.  You get used to adjusting yourself to being in a different environment and you get to appreciate that.   That is what teaches you to be better with people when you get to go back and understand more aspects of your education, or life in general.  It’s an enriching experience for one’s life, to go abroad and see something and do something different than usual.  I think students with disabilities have as good opportunity as everyone else to study abroad.  To be perfectly honest, I don’t mean to discriminate but it might be difficult if it is a mental or psychological disability.  I think that there could be things that are difficult because we don’t have campus facilities, we don’t have places where all the students go all the time.  You will need to be very outgoing and open-minded.  Other students may be quite reluctant if they can tell that they’re with a student with a psychological disability.