By Simona Poorova (First Year International Relations and Diplomacy student).
I am from Slovakia and I always knew I wanted to move away for my studies but I never knew where I end up. I applied to the International Relations and Diplomacy course with the exchange to the Hague, because I had always been interested in the world around me, enjoyed talking to foreign people, travelling and I genuinely wanted to understand, why things that often drived me crazy in terms of foreign relations between countries are the way they are. I initially thought about applying to the Czech Republic, which seemed easier, a similar environment to Slovak, But, I felt I wanted to go sowewhere unfamiliar and give myself a healthy challenge, somewhere I could find myself and be myself on my own. I decided to go Derby and I am so glad I did as Unilink took all the stress from me as they helped me with enrollment, student loan, accomodation and loads of useful tips regarding this wonderful country of England.
I flew here together with four guys, two of them would later become my flatmate and my neighbour! From the very beginning I´ve felt really warmly welcomed. Everyone has been very nice, from the Halls of residence staff, our flat cleaner and my lecturers to my amazing flatmates and friends The manager of my halls later became my personal life counsellor! During freshers fortnight people kept asking how you feel, if you need any help with accomodation, or with life in general. During my induction week, my lecturers explained everything we would have to do in terms of work and assured me they are there if I need anything, both academic and personal. This was a completely different concept to me and I was genuinely surprised, since in Slovakia, universities don´t tend to be personal and it´s not very likely someone would ask you how you are doing.
Another aspect I needed to get used to were writing assessments in a different language. The funniest memory I have regarding this is myself and my best friend from Czech Republic, sitting in the library in front of each other struggling with our first ever essay. At some point we looked at each in a complete despair and started crying. And then we just burst into laughter. So we were basically crying and laughing in a silent zone of the university library and we couldn’t stop. The assessments turned out just fine (but we ate a lot of vinegar crisps, drank coke zero and binged on doughnuts in the process!).
I am really enjoying the whole experience. Back in Slovakia I would have to learn most of the things by heart and it´s very unlikely someone would ask me for my opinion. Here, in my first lecture, my lecturer for International security and Foreign policy analysis module joked that he can only remember my name and so he´s going to ask me lots of questions in our sessions. Since then they have consistently asked for my opinion in a tutorial. Sometimes it was a pain but most of time I really appreciated it, since I was really unconfident to join a discussion at the beginning and he encouraged me to think and talk. And now I have become really fond of it. I have really found myself in this course, since it combines a bit of politics, a bit of philosophy, discussions and the capacity to critically evaluate what is going on around us. Finally, I can understand major international issues on a deeper level and not just be a passive viewer of TV news. It´s amazing!
University has helped me become independent. My course is 9 hours of lectures per week so everything else is independent study. Nobody tells you what to do and when to do it, but they are more than willing to help you. I think everyone has to find out their own way how to do a research and manage with assessments but though it was harder for me mostly because of the language, practice pays off in the longer run. Sometimes my lecturers would give you a break when they see you can´t keep up, just to make sure you make the most out of every lecture. Or at least it´s been in my course´s lectures. I could really see they want us to learn as much as possible.
My coursemates are amazing. Our course rep would make sure everyone gets to their exam on time, and when people were missing, she called every single one of them. Or they would visit me in a gelato shop I used to work in to cheer me up as a surprise during a boring shift. Since I believe every single person can teach you something, it was amazing to hear from this diverse variety of people and their views on current world issues and understand their perception of the world. It´s made me more open-minded, to never judge and to care more.
I´ve made so many good friends, and I hope many of them for life. I can say my English flatmates have become one of my best friends. But I still miss my family, friends, my country but everything has its price. I had to overcome my laziness and learn to cook (I´m still not a Masterchef), tidy properly, manage on my own in a completely unknown environment. All in all, I´ve had an amazing time here in Midlands and moreover I´ve learnt a lot, and not just academically. If I stayed home, I´d have missed so much. When I think about that time I held the big University booklet in my hands, I´m so grateful and proud of myself I gave it go.