Student Blog: The Qualms of an International Student

As summer passes me by and we get closer to starting 3rd year, I cannot help but jump ahead and think about the end of it. There is always the thrill of closing a chapter to move on to the next but in this state of uncertainty, it’s quite terrifying even talking about it. Like in my blogs, I can tell you about the workload that I am to expect across the academic year but beyond that, once I graduate, I could not tell you anything at all other than the logistics that comes after being an international student.

Will I stay or go home or go elsewhere, what’s the process going to be like if I stayed, what would the process be if I moved to the UK. There really is just a lot to think about and do. I’m sure it must be the same to most international students to be so far from home, and hopefully this blog serves as some amount of encouragement so that the process is not as terrifying, especially if you are just starting the process of facing it. Three years in university (or perhaps more, depending on your course) sounds like plenty. It was the mindset I had stepping into university but as soon as I got into second year, I knew the time would pass me by too quickly so I had to prepare.

It is quite scary thinking about the classwork I have to finish once summer ends as well as considering future plans on top of it, but you can never be too prepared if you think you’re starting early.

It was actually quite recent when this all hit me. A friend of mine had asked me, on the way back home from a rehearsal, what I was going to do after I finished university. I answered with confidence that I wanted to continue being a performer but also have a hand at backstage work like lighting and such. When she asked where I was going to do it, I told her, also with confidence, that I didn’t know. It was either I stayed or left the country to pursue it somewhere else. It didn’t plague me the rest of the night, thankfully, but I have had to think about it over time and discuss it with my family. It’s always better to have someone to discuss it with, whether it’s family or friends, as you have an extra hand to help with the extra work. My friends and family have been incredible help. Just because it is seemingly ‘adult work’, I’ve learnt better to ask for help than suffer in silence.

While I’m dealing with all this, an international friend of mine on the same course happened to be on the same boat. These conversations seem to always pop out of nowhere as we were on our way back to Winchester from a day out in Basingstoke with our group of friends. We were walking by The Anvil, on the way to the train station, when we started to talk about possibly working at The Anvil after we graduated. From there, it sparked the topic of whether we planned to stay in the UK. At that point, I had already finalized my decision to stay in the UK and as it turned out, she also wanted to stay in the UK. We were excited mainly because we had each other to work through as it made the process a lot less stressful.

At first it had been intimidating dealing with it. It’s not something you learn much growing up. What it’s like moving away, the whole Visa process, getting your own place and how to find the right place to stay. We spoke about what we already had planned for ourselves and what we knew to do. Of course, it was down to the Visa that was making us worried but we’d agreed to do it together. Having discussed our plans with our friends originally from the UK, they have been incredible help as well. We haven’t done anything else beyond that as it is now our summer holidays, but we seem to be on the right track so far.

It's always good to start somewhere, even if you don’t have a buddy to do it alongside with. It can be intimidating to start out with but someone once told be that starting out is always the most difficult part. Once you’ve crossed the line, the rest of the journey comes easily. To keep track of everything I’ve done, of course, I have a notebook and a good old Word document with everything I need on there. It did take a good 2 years of university to find my groove but I’m getting the hang of it.

Hopefully the process is not as intimidating to you as you start to consider your path as a postgraduate but this was what it was like for me. Surrounded by supportive people, and taking advantage of my Word document and the gift that Google is.

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