Everything I could have asked for and more!
My study abroad experience was the best possible experience I could have asked for! I studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the USA for a whole academic year, and I would go back if I could. I fell in love with the campus, attended many campus events (including American football and basketball games) and made a wonderful friendship group whom I am still in contact with.
One of the reasons that UIUC was my preferred choice of university for doing my study abroad was because it is one of the top universities in the world for Linguistics and it definitely paid off – I loved each and every one of my classes, each of which allowed me to explore areas of Linguistics that I had not studied before at Reading. I was even given the opportunity to take classes in Speech and Hearing Sciences, which has helped support me on my journey of doing a postgraduate in Speech and Language Therapy.
One piece of advice I would give to anyone even slightly considering doing a study abroad is to just go for it! I was so anxious about doing a year abroad, especially since I struggled so much with homesickness in my first year at Reading, but I am so glad that I went ahead with the year abroad because my confidence has grown so much as a result (plus I got to visit so many new places!)
Make the most of every opportunity that you are given because you can gain so much from it – by doing this in the USA, I met so many new people, secured an internship position and gained so much cultural insight and experience. My study abroad was honestly everything I could have asked for and more!
Walking past the bell tower on the way to class during a winter storm. Cherry blossoms at the campus arboretum. Alma Mater and Altgeld Hall Football 101 at Memorial Stadium (UIUC’s home football stadium). Autumn/Fall on the main quad facing the Student Union. Hallene Gateway.
