If you are unsure about going abroad, just remember that you are never going to get a chance again in your life

What were your top 3 highlights whilst studying abroad?

I was able to experience a whole new teaching style, in the US students have a lot more contact with their professors and often build strong working relationships with them. For example our professors would learn all of our names and give us their phone numbers to contact them if we ever had any questions. This made contacting them with queries over work a lot easier and helped me gain greater insight into classes I was studying.

I was also able to travel throughout the US for a very low cost, relatively to if I was travelling internationally. For example I went to New York for a weekend, my travel there was a $40 coach ticket. Due to the low costs of travel I was able to visit many over cities including Washington DC, Boston, Portland and Chicago.

Finally I was able to meet many new people and go on exciting weekend trip, as most students in the US have cars and 'gas' is so cheap they don't mind driving relatively far distances. For example I went skiing over 5 times on weekends just with friends, the mountains are about 1.5 hours drive away. This was very exciting as it made the cost of these trips cheap as we would just go for the day, so we did not need to get accommodation.

What would you say to someone who was unsure about spending a period abroad?

If you are unsure about going abroad just remember that you are never going to get a chance again in your life to pack up and go somewhere exciting for a year with as much support as you will have while being a student.

Also it is super easy to make friends as you are in a student environment, also as you are an international student everyone will be interested to hear your story and you will probably end up being quite popular. Finally I know it is cliché but you will grow so much during your time abroad and you make such great friends and memories you will never forget.

What is the one thing you wish you'd known before you left?

I wish I had been warned more about the battle it is to get a VISA. Especially as I went to the USA, which has some of the most strict VISA requirements, it made it even more difficult. Also the websites can often be confusing and it is quite easy to make some mistakes during the application. Also these applications can take quite a long time, so be sure to not rush the application as this can lead to a higher chance of making mistakes.

For students who will be arriving in Sheffield, what are your top recommendations for things to do and see in Sheffield?

Go to as many university events in freshers week as they are a great way to meet people, get lots of free stuff from various companies and it make friends. I would also recommend joining a sports team of some sort, to help make friends outside of your course.