Study abroad

As​ ​my​ ​first​ ​semester​ ​in​ ​New​ ​York​ ​comes​ ​to​ ​a​ ​close,​ ​I​ ​can’t​ ​say​ ​I’m​ ​not​ ​a​ ​little​ ​bit​ ​excited about​ ​returning​ ​home​ ​for​ ​winter​ break.​ ​As​ ​fun​ ​and​ ​unconventional​ ​as​ ​my​ ​university experience​ ​has​ ​been​ ​so​ ​far,​ I'm eager to return to the normality of Scotland.​ ​The hectic​ ​city​ ​life​ ​​over​ ​the​ ​past​ ​four​ ​months​ ​has​ ​left​ ​me​ ​longing​ ​for​ ​the peacefulness​ ​​of​ ​home.

My name is Fatima Afzal and this is my story of how I became a female engineer in an international environment.

My experience began when I applied to a British petrochemical company for my industrial placement year, as part of my chemical engineering degree at Aston University. Immediately after accepting the offer I started working in one of the facilities in Malaysia. This provided me with a great platform to launch my engineering career.

The international community at Harvard University adds another dimension to the educational experience. The diverse network allows for the views of students to be challenged and debated along a wide range of perspectives.

The London Business School has been number one for four years in a row. 

This year’s ranking includes 95 universities in total, a slight increase from the 91 ranked last year. 

The 2017 top 10 is essentially a reshuffling of the top 10 from 2016, with the first and second place positions remaining the same.

Switzerland and Spain are the most represented countries in the top 10, each with two universities present. 

My name is Reona Matsumoto and, as you might gather from my name, I am Japanese. I usually introduce myself in the following way: “I’m Reona. Yeah, like Rihanna but with an O.”

I was born in Singapore, and grew up mostly in Tokyo, apart from a few years spent in Shanghai because of my father’s job. I have spent most of my life in Asia and this is my first time here in the UK, for my year abroad in London. 

I’m halfway through my first semester in New York and midterm season is finally over until the spring. I can now take some time to reflect on the classes that I have taken over the past three months.

On a typical Wednesday morning I emerged from my dorm, after a long night of studying. I was jarred out of my sleepiness by a chorus of shouts sounding across the yard: “It’s Bernie Sanders!”

“Your year abroad will be amazing!”, “you’re going to love it!” and “I’m so jealous”, everyone says when wishing you well on your year abroad.

This was no different for me, yet everyone skims over the reality of starting at a foreign university, and the challenges that this entails.

The US, UK, Canada and Australia are four of the most popular countries for students to go to university. They are home to some of the highest-ranked universities in the world and the countries themselves are attractive destinations for students in terms of quality of life and employment prospects. 

This month, I have been working up to dealing with something that I hate more than anything else – moving.

I’m not moving yet but I’m probably going to need to leave my lovely apartment next year. The third year in the doctor of veterinary medicine programme is at the Camden campus, about 90 minutes west of Sydney. I was planning on staying put and sharing transport but that isn’t looking likely so I’m starting to investigate moving closer.