As I stepped out of the west station, I was welcomed by pouring rain and a chubby talkative taxi driver. Whose first remark about Canterbury, that it gets warmer here on sunny days than London but also colder in Winter than London, left me with ambivalent first impressions about the town. For someone who has lived in a tropical urban city close to the desert, it was both good and bad news conveniently placed in one sentence. But the city of Canterbury has a lot more to offer than just the English weather for an International student such as myself. The cultural and historical heritage of Canterbury, the beautiful country side around Canterbury and the fact that it is largely a student town provide the perfect mixture of the old and the new. And the town lived much to my expectations; whether I felt like taking a stroll by the river, or walk around the city Centre peeking at the most extraordinary shops , it has a piece of everything for everyone all in a small space that is both fun and relaxing to explore.
My experience at the University, however, has taken me completely by surprise and is continuing to be delightfully unexpected as the year passes. The student experience, the international environment, the academic and administrative dedication and resources available has made me realize the gigantic difference of the university culture between my home country(Pakistan) and England. The University of Kent has a strong culture of student participation that I have never before experienced. On the very first day I saw countless( and I did try to count them) student volunteers roamed around the campus, which is massive, helping freshers and their families find their way and helping them settle in their accommodations. The live radio broadcast near the sports centre was the highlight of the day for me, as RJ’s of the Kent union student radio station(yes the Kent students union has its own radio station!) played songs while making light jokes on the freshers waiting in the queue.
The Kent union, which is a charitable body established for the welfare of the University students, works closely with the university led by the alumni and current students. The university club, social events and societies are all among the various range of activities for students to participate in that the Union has set up. This also extends to positions that have students getting involved in the administration and policy making process of the University. This itself shows the way in which, as one student pointed out, the university reels in students into taking an active part and encourages them further once they do begin to participate.
Student support and participation is also strong in the academic side. My program alone has only around 10 to 12 people, and the fact that they are mix of people coming from Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe itself brings an interesting mixture of views and perspectives especially for a program such as International law. The number of students is also an advantage in terms of further discussion and cultivating ideas. As Professor Wade Mansell, who introduced the module to us in the module fair said, that he heard a professor at one of the top five universities of UK say he has 500 students in his lecture theatre, in comparison having just enough to have an intellectually stimulating discussion on the topic is without a doubt far more beneficial for the students.
While there are the lectures and seminars scheduled for your modules, you can also attend open lectures and guest lectures that are relevant to important issues concerning the course you are studying which are always interesting and thought provoking. Training sessions for writing arranged not just by the Graduate school of law at Kent but also by the Student advisory learning centre are held which are open to attend for anyone who wants to hone their writing or researching skills. For those interested in working in an international organization and environment, the Global skills award which is a series of lectures and workshops on global issues and employability skills are open to post-Graduate taught students. Furthermore, the Centre for English and world languages also provides support for students who want to learn an additional language and has an interesting workshop on Cross cultural communication that takes place every week till winter break.
So there is no end to the vast opportunities for students to cultivate and learn new skills at the University, which would make your experience enriching in every way that you can imagine. Unlike the days at school where I counted days to winter break, as the year passes, I try to keep track of and hold on to days spent in the University with friends, colleagues, and teachers hoping winter passes quickly so I can start another term at the University ticking away on the organizer in my phone.