I have interviewed dozens of study abroad students, and no one has regretted their decision to learn in another country. However, according to the Institute of International Education, 10 percent of U.S. students will study abroad in their college careers. Victoria Jones shows us how through direct exchange programs or study field trips, universities allow students to study off campus. Scholarships and financial aid often still apply, and the cost of learning overseas can cost the same as living on home campuses.
What’s your background? Why did you go to Scotland?
My name is Victoria, and I’m from Akron, Ohio. I did my undergrad at the University of Chicago, and I did a gap year in Spain. I finished my master’s at the London School of Economics the year after. Now, I’m back in Ohio due to COVID.
During my undergrad degree, I studied in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the whole year. At my university, we had multiple options on how you could study abroad.
There was a program that was only for one quarter, and they have them in different locations around the world. You would go with a group of students from the university and the university faculty. But in my mind, that seemed like a huge field trip, not necessarily studying abroad as I thought of it.
So I applied to that program, and I applied to do a direct exchange which is the classic study abroad or what people might think about as being an exchange student.
Direct Exchange Program vs. Study Field Trip
If you wanted to do a direct exchange, you had to be fluent in another language, and you would have classes in that language. But I didn’t have any language skills to that level at the time, so I could only apply to Britain and Ireland.
I applied to the direct exchange and to the field trip option. I got into both, and I had applied to Rome for the field trip, which was a very popular trip that everyone wanted to go to. I also got into the British direct program.
The options I had at that point were either Bristol or Edinburgh. They told me there was a direct exchange option. It was a quarter, but if I got there and liked it, I could extend it for the whole year. I didn’t have to commit in advance.
I decided to do the direct exchange because I thought if I went on the field trip option, I wouldn’t meet locals as easily. I would be around other University of Chicago students, and I thought it would be too easy and not as fun or interesting.
I decided to do the direct exchange even though it was scarier to be alone in another country where I knew zero people. I decided on Edinburgh because I had never been to Scotland before, and Edinburgh was a very pretty city with lots of great history.
Applying for visas
We had to apply for a visa. The study abroad office helped. They walked you through the process, and they had meetings that you would attend and fill out the forms. I was on financial aid and scholarships, so they also were able to transfer that and give me that same amount of money as I would have had on campus.
My visa wasn’t for the whole year, because I was only going for a quarter. But as soon as I got to Scotland, I was like, this is amazing, and I never want to leave. So a month into being there, I decided to extend for the whole year. I had to go through more paperwork while I was there, and I got a card since the one in my passport wasn’t long enough. I received a biometric card that allowed me to live there.
What was the best part of living in Edinburgh?
It’s so hard to explain. This sounds really corny, but I genuinely feel like Edinburgh is a magical place. That’s the only word I can use. It feels like a storybook. It doesn’t even feel real, like a movie set. It’s how I wanted London to be. It’s so cozy. Even though the weather is crap, it doesn’t matter because they do it so well.
Edinburgh has winding cobblestones and independent restaurants, cafes, pubs, and bookshops everywhere. I would feel comfortable moving there completely alone right now. I know I could meet people just talking to random people on the street. That’s how nice they are. I think they’re the nicest people from everywhere I have ever been. From where I’ve lived: Spain, Edinburgh and London, Edinburgh by far has had the nicest people.
What was the biggest challenge of living in Edinburgh?
The biggest challenge was leaving. The only thing I would say is the weather, but I didn’t even mind because they know what they’re doing with it. They make it a part of their aesthetic.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to study abroad?
Do it. If you’re hesitant or scared, you will regret it more if you don’t do it. I highly doubt you’ll get there and say, I shouldn’t have done this. And even if that happens, you can always leave.
A fairytale ending
In terms of when I decided, I felt like it was destiny that I was meant to go Edinburgh. I was watching the movie “One Day,” with Anne Hathaway, on my laptop in my room the day I had to tell the study abroad office where I was going. I was nervous because I had been toiling over this decision for days. I came back after telling them and finished the movie. I knew in the movie, the characters were located somewhere in the U.K., but I didn’t know where. They were graduating from university in the movie, and I thought, “Wouldn’t that be funny if it were Edinburgh?” I looked it up, and it was Edinburgh and I thought, “OK, I’m meant to go there.”
I was in Edinburgh for a year, and I rewatched some of the movie afterward, and it was sublime because I had my own memories of those exact same places they show in the movie.
Everything came full circle.
Vic’s top spots in Edinburgh
Bars, clubs and pubs
-Panda and Sons
-Copper Blossom on George Street
-Whiski on the Royal Mile
-Pear Tree
-Blind Poet
-Boozy Shakes at Boozy Cow (a must)*
-Brass Monkey
-Frankenstein
-Finnegan’s
-Three Sisters Upstairs
-Tigerlily
Cafes and coffee shops
-Black Medicine
-Peter’s Yard
-Anteaques (literally the best selection of tea ever, hidden gem)
-Clarinda’s Tea Room on the Royal Mile
Restaurants
-Mother India* (Indian tapas)
-10 to 10
-Mosque Kitchen
-Khushi’s on Leith Walk
-Contini
-Scran and Scallie (best Scottish food in the city, in my opinion)
Where can you find Victoria’s work?
Victoria Jones is the founder and chief editor of the digital magazine, Interzine which offers quality reporting at the intersection of history and politics. She’s written on Cuban relations, global terrorism, and revolution in the U.S.
