Work hard, play hard!

Note to all those wanting to study abroad in England, get ready for a social life like you have never experienced.

So far, I have had not one minute of "down-time". I've either been diligently working on coursework, attending lectures, or partying with friends. Make no mistake, if you are as dedicated as you should be while you are here, you will need to be able to juggle all three with a finesse I can't convey. Once you have it down though, every weekend will be the "Best I've ever had!"

I've been having an amazing experience so far, and I haven't even left Lancaster to explore the greater lake district yet (been trying to get a feel for a study plan to deal with the immense amount of reading)! Studying here is a whole different practice than in the states, in which you are constantly "checked on" by a mass of small quizzes, writing assignments, and other weekly or frequent measures of your competence. Here it is very much your responsibility to keep up with everything yourself and go beyond what the lectures say. For instance, you may be used to only keeping up with the information that relates directly (in some cases word-for-word) to what has been taught or will be taught in your lectures. Not so in the English system. Be expected to read three or four chapters from several books each week for ONE CLASS. The expectation seems to be that you not only learn what is being taught, but also to formulate your own thoughts based on multiple sources through your own research, from DAY ONE. All of this culminates (for most classes) in a rigorous final exam or paper, which takes several hours or weeks to complete, respectively.

In my opinion, I love it. it truly gives me a sense of understanding of subjects that makes me feel less like a student and more like an academic. The reading lists, while not for the faint-at-heart, reflect a deeper understanding of the course material in ways that allow to to draw your own conclusions. Speaking of which, I better get back to it...

First week done already?

It all went by so quick!

Feeling better about scholastic situation here now, had a few scary moments this week from not being able to find the books I need (and I do need a lot of them) but now I'm pretty confident that just about everything can be found at the library. Speaking of the library, it's pretty much unlike any system I've ever used, so it took a bit of learning. Wasn't expecting that one.

So far the only class that I've not taken to immediately has been Research Methods 204, only because the professor is a bit if a drag. I think that we will be switching that up as the semester goes along...
Amy (my girlfriend) and I will be going to sort out phones sometime next week, I've ordered my debit card from HSBC and gotten payment of rent squared away for next week.
We've made some pretty good friends here already and lucky for us, they are all very dedicated to school. Just our type of crowd. The girls are smart and pretty, the guys are intelligent and well dressed. They know how to have fun, but they can also buckle down and study when they need to. We have been going out a lot, but with our student cards, amazingly, we've only spent about £10 this week on it! There was an England football match on this Wednesday which was an experience in it's own right! This place is truly designed for work and play!
Anyway, I've got to head to the library. I have to find a bunch of books for my cognitive psych and psychotherapy classes. I have a reading list 2 pages long and all for next week!

First Classes

October 12th, 2009

Today was a blast!

Let me give you the run down, I went to Nicola Rastall (my international student organizer here, and just one of the nicest people) this morning to sort out my registration, but I forgot most of my papers in the room! Since I only had about an hours sleep last night due to jet lag, I wasn't surprised. Anyway, she gave me the course registration sheet and I went along with my course choices to the philosophy and psychology depts. (which are right next to each other!) and they signed me up for all of my first choices! I hit the Psych dept. last, and when we were done, June, my psych advisor here, asked me if I was ready to get started that morning. To which I replied "I've had less than 2 hours sleep, bring it on!". I was then escorted to my first class Psych 357: Cognitive Psychotherapy.

LOVED IT. Every minute. I know that's what I want to do. The professor was awesome, and it's a very hands on class. My favorite aspect about it remains that we are, in essence, learning the methods of Rational-Emotive-Behavior-Therapy through practice rather than exams. I can't wait for my chance to tear that class apart. Definitely feels different, but in so many ways incredibly awesome.

My next class starts 3 minutes after that one, Cognitive Psychology 201. I had a bit of trouble finding the department it was in (the biology building). So I was a little late, but when I got there I tried my best to jump in and get going. Most of the topics I have heard in passing before, so I hadn't missed all that much. Very much more science in that one, but still fascinating. Easy to review with the right techniques though (nod to Dr. Dufour). I had an hours break after that, in which I got my forms from my room for Nicola, got a Lucozade (one of the best drinks in the world) and a bacon roll, signed up for classes, got my library card, internet sorted out, then trekked back to the psychology dept. for the "seminar" section of the Psych 201. Which is essentially a lab discussion. There are like 7 people in the group. Result!

So, that's the basic rundown of my first day here. I don't have class again until Wednesday, research methods for 3 hours! Tomorrow I am going to the bank to sort out my debit card, pay the first installment of rent (which is much cheaper than I originally thought), and get some of the reading knocked out for next week's stuff. I've got a lot if intense reading to do and I can't wait to get started. I'm strange like that.

That's all for now, I am going to start looking over my notes from today, then I might go to the pub for one to celebrate today.

Getting there

October 9th, 2009

Right, so things got off to a bit of a shaky start. Getting my visa was a complete nightmare. Take this as a lesson, get all of your things for your visa in order as SOON AS POSSIBLE. Financial aid confirmation, letters of support from both home and host institutions, biometric info (fingerprints and jazz), proof of funding in YOUR NAME, and making sure to check every inch of the website for any more information you might need to provide. These people pull no punches, and once it’s in their hands, they become anything but transparent. Know that the day they receive your application is NOT the day they begin processing it. They held mine for almost 2 weeks before they began to process it.

So as a result, I missed “freshers” week festivities, not to mention the first week of classes. Luckily, study abroad faculty on both sides of the Atlantic were more than helpful throughout the entire fiasco. Thanks everyone! You know who you are! :-)Student Universe is a godsend, tickets would have been hundreds of dollars more elsewhere. I highly recommend.

I am heading to the airport now, hopefully the in-flight meals won’t suck too hard. It’s kind of a hit and miss with American based airlines in my past experiences, while always being reliably awesome on carriers like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Check off another thing that is a good thing if you are to apply for your visa as early as possible, around the time you would be shopping for flights, fares on those great airlines are as low as they get... Just a thought.