Nikola took part in a semester-long exchange programme at the University of Rochester in New York. He got involved in the sports culture at the university and met people from all over the world.
"This was an amazing opportunity to experience the American college lifestyle without paying their insane tuition fees. It was a great chance to see a completely different educational system and teaching approach.
The teaching there is very dynamic and demanding. It stimulates you to think and work almost constantly, which I believe is the sole purpose of university. What I really love as a concept (even though it was very hard) is their form of assessment. As opposed to the UK system, where the mark for the semester is formed by 1-3 big pieces of coursework or exams at the end of the semester, in the USA there is a small (OK, sometimes not so small) assignment/homework that has to be completed by the next week and is being marked.
First of all, this is a great way to keep the students involved. The other huge benefit is that your mark is divided into many small chunks. So in case you have one thing that you are not really good at, or you have been sick or unable to do your best for some reason, this will only reduce your mark a tiny bit.
The University of Rochester has one of the best sports centres I have seen in a school or university. There was an amazing basketball court where the university team was playing its NCAA games and three more courts that were convertible and could be used for volleyball, football, badminton, etc. There were four tennis courts, five or six squash rooms, a swimming pool, a huge gym and an indoor baseball pitch. There was also a full-size stadium for American football and a newly built baseball pitch. What was the best part of it? Everything could be used at no additional cost!!
I have learnt an awful lot about American culture, geography and lifestyle – things that I barely knew anything about before (I mean like real knowledge based on personal experience and not on movies). I have learnt a lot of new and useful skills for adaptation in a completely different environment, because even though I came to the UK from Bulgaria, this is still in Europe, things are not so different, but going to a different continent (not only as a tourist but actually living there) was a hell of an adventure!
I spent a considerable amount of time with people from many different countries and backgrounds. We travelled a lot together, meaning we had long periods of being together literally 24 hours a day. All of this is very, very beneficial for one’s communication skills, especially if your first language is not English (mine is Bulgarian).
My advice to someone thinking about going abroad would be: Go for it. Whatever opportunities you have, go and make the most of them. Take risks, go out of your comfort zone, get involved. Because all of this will be totally worth it in the end."
