First Days In Sheffield…

Bihani Kularatne, Sri Lanka

This is my fifth year in Sheffield but the first days of my time here can still be clearly remembered. That was the first time I was going to be away from home for such a long time. I didn't have any family travelling with me on my way here from Sri Lanka but there was a very kind lady from the international office who was in Sri Lanka at the time and we were taking the flight back to England together. She very kindly offered to drop me at my accommodation in Sheffield. For an 18 year old girl who didn't have any close family in the UK and who didn't have any experience travelling on her own this was really God sent.

I was excited about coming to a new country and about all the independence that I was going to have, that I never thought for a moment that I was going to miss the life I had in Sri Lanka.

Then it hit me - I sat in my room in Crescent Flats and everything just came down on me. I realised that my life was going to be different from now on and that I had to act as a responsible adult as I was on my own away from home. Suddenly I had this incredible urge to go back to where I had come from. This was too big a change for me to handle but I realised that this wasn't an option. I tried to think when I would be able to go home next and it was going to be the summer of the following year and this seemed eons away. So I begun to accept my fate and to try and make my self happy in this foreign place.

Most of my course mates were really nice and this made quite a difference. Some of my friends from college were studying in other universities in the UK and they used to either visit me or I used to go and see them for the weekend. I found a few friends in Sheffield who were really helpful and we used to spend a great deal of time with each other and they have been some of the best people that I have come across (I am sure you know who you are). They have remained as some of my closest friends up to this day.

Getting involved in various activities and my work has kept me occupied and now I feel as I have fully settled in Sheffield. The day I have to leave will be a very sad one as Sheffield has been a home away from home and deciding to come here was probably one of the best decisions that I have made and ever will make in the future.

Bihani Kularatne, Sri Lanka