Two planes and a Sharon Osborne encounter later…

Hi everyone! My name is Victoria Rowley and I’m a law student at the University of Nottingham. At the age of 21 and having completed two years of my LLB law degree, I decided that I wanted to take the big and exciting, step of undertaking a year abroad!

For me, a year abroad is more than just about studying and experiencing a new culture, it is a chance to make friendships with people from all over the globe as well as grow in confidence and independence. Having excitedly gone through the list of year abroad destinations, the University of Connecticut’s Law School in the US jumped out at me as the ideal place to spend two semesters on exchange.

UConn automatically ticked the boxes of a friendly and welcoming law school that offers a variety of different classes. Beyond that, it also offered me the chance to study, in my opinion, in one of the best locations on the globe. Having a base on the East Coast offers the chance to visit the famous destinations of New York (the shopping addict in me was sold!), Boston as well as some of New England’s most historical sites. I felt that for an all-round enriching experience, studying at UConn was the ideal place for me.

 

Not your average plane journey...

I touched down in the States on 12^th August. Despite the journey being fairly long and tiring, it didn’t take long before I got my first experience of American celebrity life! As we prepared to leave the plane, a small figure anxiously waiting by the plane door turned out to be Sharon Osborne! Looking slightly more downbeat than her usual feisty image on TV, I was eager to take a photo and send it back home to make my friends jealous. Unfortunately, as cameras are banned in Newark airport, my photo plan didn't quite work and so the image of Sharon Osborne holding her dog in her handbag exists solely in my memory. Nonetheless, in less than 24 hours, I had already ticked celeb-spotting off my list of things to do whilst in the States before I had even set foot in my new hometown!

The apartment that I share is based in Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. For those not familiar with US state ‘nicknames’, Hartford is known as the ‘Constitution State’ as it was the first US state to ratify the US Constitution. Despite Connecticut being home to around 3.6 million people, I immediately felt at home. I quickly learnt that Americans really do love an English accent, and it is has all too often been a conversation starter with many different people. In typical English fashion, I can’t write my first blog post without mentioning the weather. For me, one of the most surprising things about Connecticut is the humidity. I knew that the summers are much warmer than in England but within a  few days of arriving I already felt that my tan was more advance than when I spend two weeks devoted to the sun lounge in my garden back home! The sun did provide the best opportunity to go out and explore the views of Hartford city and the tree-lined streets.

Settling into the US

A few weeks later after my initial arrival, and after an eventful international orientation program, I have now started my law classes and I’ve made friend with a range of international and American students. Outside of classes, I've been to the Hartford boat race, my first American baseball game as well the UConn Community program day, which gave me the chance to do some pro bono activities in the community. I hope that my year abroad will continue to offer up such a wide variety of fun and informative opportunities that will add to my international experience and provide a chance to form relationships with people from all walks of life.

 

                            Holding the Flag at the start of the game       Hartford library for UConn Community Service Day

As for settling in, I have had some amusing experiences when using English phrases in the US. I have had quizzical looks when I refer to a ‘trash can’ as a bin, when I used the phrase ‘I’ll take a read of that’ and I have fairly frequently been told that I speak like the Queen (luckily that I don’t look like her). The US, much to my surprise, also doesn’t really have any squash (think Robinson’s fruit juice). Having drunk a fair gallon of squash during my two years at Nottingham, this is one thing that I have had to adapt to in day to day life!

9 months from now...

 

As I write this at the start of my year abroad, I want to set out what I hope to gain from the coming year. I hope that in 9 months time, having thrown myself into all the opportunities that my year abroad presents, I will be writing this blog telling the next students at Nottingham to take the leap and make the application for a year abroad. I hope to have more than enough photos to show my family and friends at home everything I've done, but more importantly I hope to have enough memories to look back and say that my year abroad was one of the best experiences of my life. So far, I am happy to say that I've enjoyed every minute of my exchange…America you certainly don’t disappoint!

  

 

USA Year Abroad Tip Number #1: Don't visit the US without stopping off at a Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt Shop...it's one of the best discoveries I've ever made!