{"id":16341,"date":"2022-07-20T14:37:42","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T13:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/?p=16341"},"modified":"2023-04-25T11:26:54","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T10:26:54","slug":"doing-a-year-abroad-is-enriching-it-teaches-you-so-much-about-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/2022\/07\/doing-a-year-abroad-is-enriching-it-teaches-you-so-much-about-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Doing a Year Abroad is Enriching – It Teaches you so Much about yourself’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anna Spencer is studying BSc International Business with a Year Abroad.<\/a> She took a Year Abroad at The University of Korea in Seoul, South Korea. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favourite moments during my Year Abroad was a festival where international students got to showcase things about their home countries. It was incredible walking around this huge event and seeing cultures that come together at one university. I felt so privileged to be learning amongst such a diverse group of students.<\/p>\n

I chose to study a Year Abroad when I first applied for my course. Hailing from London, I have grown up in a cultural melting pot and a big bustling city. Canterbury, in some essences, was the antithesis of this with its green, peaceful leafy campus. I felt that a year in a foreign city and all it had to offer would provide a great balance for my four-year degree.<\/p>\n

Applying for a place in South Korea, I\u2019d heard positive things, that the people were welcoming, and the city of Seoul was becoming hugely metropolitan and exciting. I felt going further away, to a culture that was very different from my own, would be hugely character building, too.<\/p>\n

The system in Korea is also slightly different, in terms of the modules I could study. As well as my business topics I was able to take modules in literature and media, an appealing offer when I really want to get into book publishing one day!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Anna at Gyeongbokgung Palace wearing traditional Hanbok<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My first day was daunting, but I was eased in carefully by staff at the university. Luckily for me, lessons are taught in English, but I made it my mission to understand the language (which has a different alphabet to ours) before I arrived, so I could easily navigate life outside of university.<\/p>\n

Instagram and TikTok were lifelines before I got to Korea, there are so many videos that enable you to understand the culture before you leave your home country. I spent my evenings watching clips with titles like Ten Things not to do in Korea <\/em>or Tips for a Foreigner Coming to Seoul<\/em> to get real advice from people with lived experience. I felt very lucky to be in an environment that is so well connected.<\/p>\n

Starting in a new city, a new country and surrounded by strangers was by no means easy. As a survival instinct I just went out of my way to say hi everyone and made as many friends as I could, it certainly helped stave off home sickness! People here have been so welcoming; I couldn\u2019t ask for nicer students and staff to work alongside.<\/p>\n

As well as building my academic knowledge, the biggest gain from my Year in Industry has been interpersonal skills. I feel like the experience has made me more empathetic and understanding, particularly to international students and how they feel at Kent.\u00a0 I have also built a resilience I didn\u2019t know I had.<\/p>\n

If you have a passion for travelling and for new and interesting things, doing a Year Abroad is for you. It is such an enriching experience, and it teaches you so much about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on our Year Abroad options at the University of Kent, visit Study abroad – Go Abroad – University of Kent<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anna Spencer is studying BSc International Business with a Year Abroad. She took a Year Abroad at The University of Korea in Seoul, South Korea. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74553,"featured_media":16368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[124],"tags":[112454,143776],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16341"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20375,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16341\/revisions\/20375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}