My Honours years: My year abroad and a return to Edinburgh
Hi! My name’s Corrie, I study Classics, and I went on a year abroad to Milan for my third year, spending the year at Università degli Studi di Milano Statale, going to lectures at the central campus in Via Festa del Perdono, which is nestled behind the Duomo of Milan.
Academics in Italy
I met so many amazing people through my courses and the Erasmus Student Network in Milan, which hosts regular events for all the international students in the city. I have made so many valuable friendships that will last a lifetime! Spending the whole year away really allowed me to cultivate these.
Milan is also really well placed for all sorts of things – I often took day trips skiing in the Winter, and then to the beach in Liguria in the Summer. In between, I had the chance to visit the beautiful towns and cities surrounding Milan, such as Cremona, Verona, Bergamo, and Lake Como (to name a few!). The perks of long exam seasons are being able to organise your time as you wish.
Italy is a fantastic place to be for any Classicist – I am especially taken by the Roman world. Not only are there great sites to visit within Milan itself (although you might have to look a bit harder compared to some other cities), but you’ve got great access to archaeological sites, both close by in Brescia, for example, or further afield in Sicily and the Bay of Naples. I went to Agrigento and absolutely loved it.
The biggest adjustment about studying in Italy was the differences in the Italian university system. The vast majority of exams are oral, which is a style of exam that I had not encountered since GCSE Spanish. As well as this, both the winter and summer exam periods are extremely long, stretching the academic year out until mid-July. While this seemed daunting at first, I quickly got used to it, and started doing my revision by speaking out loud, going to study groups and attending around 20 hours of lectures a week. This was a great way to make friends at uni. I took four courses each semester.
The hardest part was probably thinking about starting my dissertation while still abroad, but, on the other hand, I had double the number of professors to ask for help. In fact, my idea came to me while in a lecture in my Historical Geography in the Ancient World course.
I took all my courses in Italian, and took a lot of courses in Greek and Roman Archaeology and History of Art, Latin language, and Greek Law. There was definitely a much bigger component of learning content, but I came back to Edinburgh with a great breadth of knowledge, ready to start my dissertation.
I was assigned a personal tutor in Milan that I could ask for help with the administrative side of things, which was really helpful as there were quite a lot of forms to fill! I also had the Study and Work Away service getting in touch and checking in with me regularly, which was nice to have even though everything was going well.
Everything else!
Milan is Italy’s most modern city, and there is a LOT going on! I spent my weekends going to exciting events happening in the city, such as Milan’s Design Week, where you can find the Salone del Mobile, Fashion Week, museums and all sorts of pop-up events and exhibitions. Milan is also filled with amazing parks and theatres. I was lucky enough to see The Nutcracker at the Teatro Alla Scala, which was absolutely stunning. Milan is also full of great food – both Italian and International, at an affordable price. I got a lot of aperitivi with friends – the Edinburgh equivalent of going to the pub – as well as coffees on the go for just a euro!
Coming back to Edinburgh – Tackling 4th Year
While coming back to Edinburgh felt quite scary, since I had been away for a year and had loved my time abroad, it was a really smooth process. The great thing about Edinburgh is that almost everyone is here for four years; so all my friends and course mates were still around, many of them coming back from their own study abroad years. I lived with two friends who were also coming back from their Erasmus, so we tackled getting back into all the fun Edinburgh has to offer together. While it may be a clichè to say absence makes the heart grow fonder, I really found it to be true in this case!
Academically, there were a few things to keep in mind: since my year abroad was pass/fail, my whole degree final depends on my fourth year. This also felt a bit daunting, but being a bit more mindful of my grades this year was definitely worth it! All my professors were very accommodating and understanding, and I was able to integrate back into my course with no issues. In fact, I felt academically even more confident, having spent a year away challenging myself more than I ever had before!
One way I really got back into life at Edinburgh was by applying to be a Student Ambassador. This really threw me back into life here and allowed me to meet lots of other students and take part in various University events.
Overall, the chance to go abroad just added to my Edinburgh experience rather than taking anything away from it, and I would really recommend the experience to anyone curious about life abroad for a year. Edinburgh waited for me and welcomed me back with open arms. Although I do miss Milan, my year abroad contributed so much to my University experience as a whole, and I am so glad that I took the leap!
Disclaimer
University of Edinburgh Student Ambassadors are financially compensated to tell their stories.
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