What do you study at King’s?
Mathmatics BSc
Where did your Global Summer Experience take place?
Korea University
How did you apply?
The application process was straight forward. It consisted of two main parts: 1) the application to the KCL study abroad team, which they filter down through their criteria and 2) the completion of the application with the external institution.
The first part compromised of relevant questions to the choice of the programme and the institution. This was fairly small and won’t take any longer than 15 – 20 minutes of your time. The second part had several requirements before I could guarantee a place in their institution such as; references, passport photocopy, payments and confirmation from KCL, all of which was very easily done. The biggest complication came from paying the fees online, which I encountered early on in the process and I recommend anyone that wish to avoid any inconvenience in the future make sure to get it done ASAP.
In any case I found the KCL study abroad team to be amazing at helping me with all the different parts of applications and in assisting me with choosing the right place for me.
What was the biggest challenge that you faced on your Global Summer Experience? How did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge I found while I was overseas was not having a clear and comprehensive schedule for travelling around the city or even the country. When I was in South Korea, many activities was organised in a weekly bases, however it does not even scratch the surface when trying to experience the best out of a city and trying to unravel its long history that is printed across the country. The way I was able to overcome this problem was by relying on two things: 1) self-preparation – not having to fully rely on people to experience what I want from a country, and 2) building good relationships with local students, especially those who work at the university.
What was the highlight of your Global Summer Experience?
My highlight was definitely all the different people I met from all over the world and the experiences, memories and friendship you make with them. Knowing that I can travel to so many different places in the future and be able to meet friends I once met in my study abroad programme, makes it the best thing about studying abroad.
How did your Global Summer Experience influence you?
In regards to my studies the programme opened my eyes to so many different things relating to my current degree. The broad range of different subjects that the university had to offer allowed me to gain insights into my subject, which I otherwise would never have. Ultimately, this has led me discovering related interest in fields that intersect with mine and now influenced me in choosing my last year units and a Masters degree in the future. In addition to this, my summer programme has given me many new skills, which i personally have experienced having now come back to KCL, that is my views, values and perception of the world are now more matured and nuanced then ever before.
What skills do you think you gained from your Global Summer Experience?
My summer programme has given me many new skills, which I have experienced having now come back to KCL, such as; my ability to communicate to different people from all over the world. I gained the independence that is required to be able to go out in the world and most importantly am now able to put myself in uncomfortable situations more often-I learnt that is the only way to grow as a person.
What advice would you give to others considering a Global Summer Experience?
Choose a programme that will make you feel uncomfortable and make a decision on knew experiences and not existing associations of a “good idea”.
Don’t think too much about it, just do it!
Your testimony was really helpful! Especially the information regarding the challenges in this exchange. How was busy was the schedule with the courses you took? Were you expected to spend the duration of the exchange only studying or did you also have time to explore the city?