First Week of Class

This past week was my first week of class as a temporary British student. While at Kingston University, or “Uni” as the Brits call it, I’m taking 3 marketing/business courses (they call them modules here lol) and a British Life and Culture class. I’m really excited for all of my classes this semester. My business courses seem challenging, but fun and eye opening. One of my business professors is actually American! That was a little surprising. When he was introducing himself to the class the first question he was asked once he announced he was American, “Are you voting for Clinton or Trump.” He chuckled and bypassed the question saying, “...I don’t think I’m going to answer that.” I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked about Donald Trump. When I tell people I’m American, Donald seems to be the first topic of discussion. I’m tired of talking about him. He’s such an embarrassment to the US.

While I was reading my class handbooks(a.k.a. syllabus) I noticed a few things missing. Homework. Classwork. Participation points. Test. Quizzes. My final grade in all of my classes will consist of a final paper or portfolio, and/or a group project. That is completely different than the US education system. No free points for just coming to class! lol In the UK they focus more on independent learning. Your professor assigns “suggested” readings for the class, and you are expected to read, understand, and dissect the information before coming to class. My Study Abroad counselor from Kingston said, “...we don’t want you to memorize the information for an exam. We want you to learn it, understand it, discuss it, and use it in real life situations.” My classes range from 3-4 hours, and for 95% of the time my professors said we will have class discussions. The American style lectures accompanied with the classic powerpoint, is a thing of the past. My Marketing Communications professor said “the best way to learn is to discuss the topic. Ask questions. Challenge others.” The class structure and the teaching style is much different here, and might take some getting use to. But I am excited and ready to learn all I can while at Kingston!

-Casey