It’s now March, I’m well into my second semester as a visiting student in Edinburgh and I’m still unsure about how I should handle my workload while still seizing every opportunity to enjoy my time in Scotland.
I think the amount of time allocated to studying is probably a very personal decision, that every exchange student takes based on their situation. I knew I had to study a lot during the first semester because the grades I got during that time counted towards my degree and were very relevant in the masters applications that I’m making right now. But I also knew, I still had the second semester to explore the city and socialize more. I’ve met other exchange students who come from Australia or the US and who knew their semester in Edinburgh was also their opportunity to travel around Europe, so they took full advantage of the many cheap flights that exist from Edinburgh to several European destinations.
Now another issue that came up for me, was splitting my time between socializing with societies and exploring and experiencing everything Scotland has to offer. I joined the ballroom society in September and because there were so many learning opportunities (classes, competitions…) that don’t exist in my home university, ballroom dancing took up most of my time when I was not studying. I still found some time to take part in a couple ESN trips and meet other visiting students which was a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend going on ESN trips because they are tailored to international students and it’s an easy way to make friends.
This is also my first year living on my own and I’ve learned to include making dinner and taking care of myself on my own into my schedule. It definitely is not always easy to meal prep for the week ahead but I’ve found that cooking really large meals and then setting them aside in the freezer is so much less time consuming than cooking every single day. I think this also allows me to be more flexible with my schedule, which is definitely very useful because everything becomes very spontaneous when you’re living as an exchange student.
Figuring out how to manage your time is never an easy task, but I think for exchange students it’s sometimes even harder because our time is very limited. Whether you’re staying one semester or a full year, time flies so much faster as an exchange student because you’re constantly pulled in a million different directions. There are so many opportunities at the university to take up a new hobby and meet incredible people thanks to the societies, but there are also so many things to discover in the city and in the countryside. And adapting to a new teaching system and getting used to taking classes in a foreign language can take up a lot of time too. I think what has helped me navigate all of this is trying to stay very organized, writing down anything that could potentially interest me in my calendar but then leaving a lot of leeway to decide what I actually feel like doing in the moment and accepting the unexpected.
– Daria
Study Abroad Blog 
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