East coast travels

It’s been ages since I last wrote on this, and loads has happened since October, so I’ll try and give a quick recap of what I can remember. In no particular order the first semester contained: a lot of trips down to New York City as well as visits to Boston and Philadelphia (all very easy to get to from Albany), a lot of meeting people, a lot of cold weather, a lot of celebrating (including turning 21 and the Yankees winning the World Series), a lot of Nottingham students taking advantage of what SUNY Albany had to offer (playing on the school soccer team, taking part in the university dance council show, and performing in theatre productions to name a few!)…and some schoolwork.

Over winter break decided not to return to Angleterre and travelled across the United States for 3 weeks with Trek America (Which I recommend 100%! whether you’re studying abroad or not!)
Starting in New York I travelled to Los Angeles, with stops along the way in a bunch of amazing places including Washington DC, New Orleans, the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. It was a shame to leave the warm beaches of San Diego and return to the Albany snow, but I guess if you took the ‘study’ out of study abroad then all you’re left with is a holiday.

This semester I took advantage of the SUNY Albany’s opportunities, attaining internships at both the New York State Writers Institute and the New York State Museum. The internships are both for school credit which is a huge bonus as it makes a change from classes and I’m getting some incredible experiences that wouldn’t be possible back in England. I’m finding the museum internship particularly beneficial as I am getting in contact with museum collections that will hopefully prove very helpful with researching and writing my final year dissertation.

Some Nottingham students are put off by the fact that results when exchanging in America do not count toward their final degree. However these unique experiences are really easy to get hold of and offer something beyond that of a typical three year degree. Especially in terms of doing an American studies degree, the opportunity to experience two different areas of American work life, on top of the native student life is, for me, a huge addition to both this year abroad and to my degree.

Much love Nottingham!