My overseas study experience
                                                                                                                                              By GU Yang
    June26th, 2014, was the day I said goodbye to my parents and homeland before starting pursuing my master’s degree in the University of Manchester in the UK. Although I knew it would be a tough year not only in terms of academic life but also personal life, I felt confident and determined as a graduate of JXUFE.
   I attended the 10-week pre-sessional English course before the official course started. The entire English course was divided into four parts, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, the same as IETLS. We had two tutors, Paul for listening and writing, and Milena for speaking and reading. Although the class was usually dominated by Chinese, we decided to communicate with each other using English. The course lasted from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm from Monday to Friday. It was neither very intensive nor relaxing – we need to finish tasks and assignments during and after classes. The final assessment of the course included a 2,000-word report, which needs to be related to the student’s major, and a 10-minute individual presentation, which presents the brief structure and idea of the report.

    The pre-sessional course was really a great chance to meet different people and make good friends. In my class, there were 14 of us together, 11 from China, 2 from Thailand, and 1 from Korea. During the 10 weeks, everyone of our class talked to each other, help each other, and become good friends of each other. We also spent the weekends travelling together to nearby cities and landmarks. The friendship also lasted beyond the time of the course.
    There was a gap week between the pre-sessional course and the official course – perfect time for a trip to Scotland! The weather and views in Scotland were just amazing and we had a chance to relax just before the official course starts.

    The official course usually starts around mid September. The first week is called “Welcome week”. It is designed for students, especially overseas students, to familiar with their schools and teachers. My school, Manchester Business School, gave me a signature pen, a dedicated notebook, and a hoody with the school’s name on it.
    Lectures began from the second week. We have 4 courses in the first semester and 4 courses plus a dissertation in the second semester. The timetable was not very tight and we had breaks between lectures. The number of students in each lecture depends on the course. Usually, we had 30 to 100 students in each lecture room. The teaching style of each lecturer was also different. Some of them just explained questions and stated ideas using lecture slides. Others tried to interact with students, which made the atmosphere lively. My favorite lecturer was Professor Dean Paxson, who taught us Real Options in Corporate Finance. He was able to link the theory to a real-world situation and expressed the idea behind important financial events, which really enhanced our horizon and aroused our zeal for study.Apart from study, there were a lot of things I needed to experience as an overseas student. The life in Manchester was very different from the life in JXUFE. First of all, your flatmates may be from different countries with different cultures and life styles. There were conflicts that could not be experienced in our home country. Trying to live peacefully with different kinds of people means a lot in a multi-culture situation. In my opinion, the best way to make friends is to avoid talking about politics but cook Chinese food for them! Yes, as a Chinese, you must know how to cook some traditional dishes. On one hand, you can save a lot of money by cooking at home. On the other hand, you can socialize with your friends by serving them delicious Chinese food.
Travelling was also an important part of my life abroad. My friends and I have been to France, Spain, Monaco, and Turkey during the year. We visited countless places of interest, took numerous photos, and made the precious memories ever. The friendship we built during the journey is even more precious. We learnt how to care for each other, how to talk to strangers, how to navigate in a place you have never been before…

    Another aspect of Manchester was its night life. There are bars and clubs everywhere in the city and almost all of them are fully loaded at weekends. The culture of drinking and clubbing seems to suit us perfectly. Once you entered one of the clubs, you would probably never forget the noise, the flash lights, and the crazy dancers of that night. It was really a good way to escape from stressful assignments and reports and reduce your stress for a while.
    Although one year seems a little long, time runs faster than you feel before you realise it’s time for writing the dissertation. From June to September, I had 3 months of time to finish my dissertation. Unfortunately,I did not come to a total agreement with my supervisor about my dissertation title until the end of the first month. It was really important to plan ahead and think carefully about the stuff you would like to research. After determining the general title, the next step is to conduct a literature review, in which I had to read a lot of related materials to enhance my knowledge in that field. At the beginning,I found it very difficult to understand the latest ideas of the academics. However, the more I read, the clearer my mind was. When I finally had an idea of what is going on in that field, the difficulty of data collection struck me hard. I had to spend two weeks’time digging in the data in order to find what I needed. Finally, I was able to use the data to build my model and finish my dissertation.

    Not until the day that I submitted my dissertation, did I realise that I have finished my master’s degree. Look back, I found a lot of memories to cherish. Looking ahead, I know I still have a long way to go.