Moving away to university
Dora Marcec
Biomedicine Student
Hello, my name is Dora and I am a third-year Biomedicine student. I come from Croatia, where I was an International Baccalaureate student. Apart from science, I love photography, reading and teaching myself how to film and edit videos.
International aspirations
I always dreamed of studying abroad, so moving away to start university was an exciting experience for me. Of course, there were some nerves because, after all, I was moving to a new country. However, this feeling never overcame my excitement.
I believe my experience would have been much different if I had not been moving in with my close friend. Because I was, I never felt alone throughout the process of moving and settling in, which made everything a very positive experience for me.
Following my dreams
Since I had hoped to study abroad from a young age, my first step to prepare for this as early as possible was by pursuing bilingual education. I attended a bilingual grammar school and graduated with an International Baccalaureate Diploma afterwards. When applying to universities, I researched the living costs of various cities and towns across Great Britain and ultimately chose Huddersfield as the best option for me.
The day I moved to Huddersfield was a bit of a rollercoaster for me and my friend, because we booked a private studio without having a viewing, and quickly learned that not everything that is included on the pictures on the website will be included with the actual studio. So, as soon as we arrived at our new home, we had to go to our nearest grocery store and buy all the kitchen equipment, bedding, pillows, blankets etc. This was a lesson learned for me, so definitely make sure to bring those with you when moving to the UK (and never skip a viewing)!
My first year
I spent my first year of uni living in an en-suite studio in the town centre, which was really convenient as everything was nearby – the campus was a five-minute walk away, there were two big grocery stores three minutes away and Greenhead Park was about 10 minutes away. The downside was it was quite expensive and sharing it with someone definitely helped. Once my friend moved to another city for work, I decided to move in with my classmates in student accommodation. We then spent our third year renting a private house.
In terms of social life, I would say it’s quite easy to make friends here - just don’t be afraid to approach people and talk to them. Chances are, they may be as nervous to approach you as you are to approach them, so taking a bit of initiative goes a long way. Apart from meeting your classmates during lectures, you can also make friends by joining more than 150 sports clubs, academic societies and hobby-based societies supported by the Students' Union.
Overall experience
Moving away to university was really nice experience for me as it taught me how to become more independent and manage finances, and also allowed me to build my own daily routine, personalise my meal choices and become more flexible with my meal timings. Despite that, I do tend to get homesick here and there, so I try to book flights home as often as possible!
If you would like to hear about my journey moving to university in more detail – feel free to message me on Unibuddy! Alternatively, reach out to our other lovely Unibuddies, who will be more than happy to tell you about what moving away to university has been like for them
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