Hi, I’m Caitlin and I’m writing this as I’m halfway through my year-long exchange at the University of Stirling (Scotland).  I am in my 3rd year of Sport and Human Performance at Waikato and am completing my entire final year at Stirling!

I write this blog post with the intent to talk about the life of a student at UoS!  First of all the course layout.  A full-time workload here is 3 papers as opposed to the 4 we have at Waikato and as I’m in my 3rd year, it is expected that we put about 16 hours into each paper, each week.  The general layout of my week is different to what it would be at home as there are a lot less in-person classes and a lot more self-directed learning here so this is something to get used to.  At Waikato, I am completing a double major in Human Performance Science and Sport Development and Coaching so I fall across two different degrees here at Stirling as you can’t combine sports science with other degrees.  Something interesting about this is that the Sport Science students have pre-determined papers the whole way from years 1-through-4 of their degrees!

The campus itself is based just on the outskirts of Stirling city and is absolutely stunning as it sits perched between Dumyat and the Wallace monument, both of which you get great views of on campus.  Facilities on campus are great and I find myself spending most of my time in the library and the sport centre!  The sports facilities are insane and include a 50m swimming pool, a couple of Astro turfs, indoor courts, an athletics track and even a golf course and are home to many high-performing athletes!  On campus, there are also plenty of food spots with cafés spread throughout and you can even find a mini supermarket!  Quite often students may study at cafés around town and in Bridge of Allan (a little town close to campus) as well.  

Many students use the bus as transport to and from uni, and there is even a designated bus called the “UniLink” which shuttles from town to camps every 8 minutes or so! On top of this, there are also e-bikes spread out at certain points around town for hire which through being a student you can use for 30 minutes for free (you can redeem this multiple times a day so are a great option to get to and from campus too!).

UoS are massively into their societies and sports clubs and this is something I would highly recommend getting stuck into on exchange anywhere as this is how I have made most of my friends!  At the beginning of each semester, most clubs will host a Give-it-a-go session so that anyone can come along and see what the sports are about and get the opportunity to get involved!  I joined the cycling club which, during the semester, hosts 5ish different rides each week depending on your discipline and ability meaning there’s something for everyone!  On Wednesdays, most of the university’s sports clubs and teams will be playing against other universities which means that Wednesdays are a big night out for students around Scotland!

The clubs and societies love to host “socials” and though most of these may take place after games, there are other events on too, for example, the Cycling and Shinty clubs got together to host a charity Ceilidh (which I would 10/10 recommend going to by the way if you would like to experience some Scottish culture and a great time).

I have found that students at UoS love travelling about to some of the bigger cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as other smaller spots to tick off some “Munro’s” (mountain over 300ft tall) or whatever else you’re into.  I have found that most places are super accessible by train/bus.  I have been making the most of this by heading to check out some of the sights around but most importantly the Christmas markets which have been amazing!  I have also made trips into Glasgow to hit up some indoor skateparks and even headed out toward the Scottish/English border to ride in Innerleithen and Glentress (which are both MTB Mecca’s)!

Scottish people are very similar to Kiwis and I have found everyone to be super friendly, however, they do often guess that my accent is Australian… This aside, the Scottish people are lovely and though they can be hard to understand at times are often keen to sit down for a chat or show you around their home.  

While being over here, I have had the opportunity to get involved with some extracurricular activities outside of uni such as a new initiative that Scottish Student Sport have begun which is a Women-in-Caching project (‘Coach Like a Girl’) as well as volunteering for ‘Cycling Without Age Scotland’ which have both been super cool opportunities that have only been accessible to me through this exchange!

All-in-all being halfway through my exchange I am having the most amazing time and am super grateful to have received this opportunity to study abroad. I would highly recommend this type of experience to anyone wanting to explore the world or push themselves out of their comfort zone.  Stirling is a cool city and UoS have been very welcoming to me, and I am stoked that Waikato Global Experiences has this awesome university on their list of partners!  

Tìoraidh an-dràsta!   (Bye for now in Scottish Gaelic)