Christine Krack looks back at the four years she spent as an international student in Scotland, recalling the 'wild beauty' that first attracted her, and the friendliness which made her experience so special.
Originally from Luxembourg, Christine Krack completed a four-year degree course in English and Spanish at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, UK.
As is so often the case with young students who choose to study abroad, her initial decision to study in Scotland was motivated first and foremost by having fallen in love with the country.
“Prior to my studies I went on an InterRail trip with a friend, through England and Scotland,” she says. “I was impressed not only with the vast expanse of the Scottish Highlands and the wild beauty of the coastline, but also the friendliness and hospitality of the locals, which made me want to spend more time in the UK.”
Why Scotland?
Scotland was particularly appealing, given that Christine had already begun her undergraduate studies in her native Luxembourg: “The Scottish higher education system made it easy to transfer into my second year of undergraduate studies, whereas in England for instance, I would have had to start from the beginning.”
She adds that in Scotland, she was exempt from paying tuition fees; EU students do not pay fees in Scotland, as they would in England. She decided on St Andrews because of the university’s highly regarded Spanish department.
Application itself, she recalls, was relatively painless, with the only issue being that it took a while for the university to respond to the application – resulting in a nervy three months for Christine.
This was exacerbated by the nature of her offer: “I got a conditional offer from St Andrews, as I’d requested a transfer into second year. My admission depended on my final marks in Spanish at the University of Luxembourg. But, in the end,” she reflects, “the extra work paid off.”
Adapting to local life
Having proved herself academically capable, the challenges now facing Christine were social and cultural. Scotland is known for being a singular place; did anything strike her as strange about the British – and Scottish in particular – way of life?
“Not really. Apart from getting used to the idea of adding milk to a cup of tea and seeing deep-fried Mars bars on menus, the lifestyle I had wasn’t all that different from what I was used to.”
There was less of an element of culture shock, she adds, due to St Andrews’ mixed student population: “It’s a multi-cultural place and in the end I made friends with students from all over the world – from England, Scotland, Luxembourg, Germany, Kazakhstan and India.”
The lasting friendships she made, Christine says, were one of the best things about her degree. She is still regularly in touch with her best friend from university, “even though we live on completely opposite sides of the globe”. She also enjoyed living by the sea in the small, picturesque town of St Andrews (which is often favored by members of the British royal family).
What did she enjoy less? Like many other people who have stayed in the UK for any amount of time, it was “the short, cold and windy days,” which got to her.
The small and cosy nature of St Andrews, which often works in its favour, was also sometimes something of an issue, as this meant it could feel “claustrophobic” at times. “I recommend getting out of town from time to time. It’s fairly easy to go to Dundee for an afternoon, and Edinburgh isn’t that far away either.”
As well as these outings, Christine took advantage of volunteering opportunities to explore a wider area, tutoring in schools in nearby towns Buckhaven and Kirkcaldy. “This allowed me to not just limit myself to student life but to get in touch with ‘real’ life and get some work experience too.”
Valuable experiences
The Erasmus student exchange program also allowed her to get out of town – all the way to Barcelona in fact – for an entire semester, an experience she believes allowed her to improve her Spanish skills exponentially.
These skills have proved invaluable in Christine’s current line of work, which has taken her as far as Nicaragua, where she works for Lux-Development (Luxembourg’s key development aid agency) as a junior technical assistant on a sustainable tourism project.
Apart from the language skills, does she feel that studying abroad helped her to land this role? She answers in the affirmative: “When applying for jobs abroad, any experience in a foreign country is valuable. [It] means that you have to adapt to a new environment and familiarize yourself with a different culture, language and climate. It brings with it challenges that strengthen your personality and widen your horizons.”
Given this successful outcome and the positive experience she had, it is no surprise to hear that Christine would “highly recommend studying abroad to anybody”. In order to have a similarly positive experience, she recommends that anyone following in her footsteps chooses their destination carefully – she visited three universities before settling on St Andrews.
“Being outside of your comfort zone might be a scary idea initially, which is why I think it’s important to choose a place where you can imagine yourself to be living for a while and feel comfortable,” she says.
“For example, do you prefer to live in a big city or a town? For me, it was essential to live within walking distance from my lecture halls and library. Everything was within reach and this gave me a great deal of independence and flexibility, adding greatly to my quality of life.”