Over the Edge - January 9th 2013

FLYNN IN PG!!

DEVON FLYNN
EXCHANGE STUDENT

This last piece summarizes my
experience last semester as an exchange
student in Dundee, Scotland. Firstly,
I’d like to acknowledge and thank
OTE for providing the opportunity
to have shared my experience with
students back home.

I’m sure by now that anyone who
has read my previous articles will
be familiar with my impression
that attending school abroad can be
difficult, not necessarily because of
the learning curve foreign students
may face, but also the exciting allure
of travel, as well as socializing at
a new place, with new people, in a
new school. Despite these additional
temptations to lure me away from
textbooks and notes, my particular
situation provided the setting for a
different exchange experience.

As you may recall, I was living with
a family in a different town than the
university, and I had to transit in to
attend classes or do anything at the
campus. While the family was very
friendly and accommodating, my life
off-campus and out-of-town presented
a situation in which I was able to view
my student exchange from a unique
perspective. It was my first time
attending school in an accommodation
other than on-campus residence, not
only being away from the typical
hustle and bustle of a _ university
campus that I am accustomed to, but
actually living apart from those kinds
of interactions. Doing so allowed me
to reflect on my abroad experience
from an _ isolated perspective, a
platform of introspection - if you will,
a crow’s nest to the student-laden
party boat that was the S.S. University
of Dundee (an apt analogy now that I
think about it, considering Dundee’s
history of ship building and whaling).

Through my telescope of Facebook
and emails, I remained privy to the
activities of my Dundee friends and
classmates and the events and parties
hosted by the university: dinners,
pub crawls, Scottish Ceilidh’s, etc.
I was never excluded mind you — I
attended many of these, embracing
the embodiments of studenthood. All
I had to do to join my fellow students
was give a quick holler or text message
and slide down the 35-minute long
ladder of Bus 20. While I enjoyed the
breaks from keeping a watchful eye
on the seas of essays and exams, my
latter days during exams found myself
looking more and more often for the
island of UNBC on the horizon, with
my family and friends at the shores
to greet me, my girlfriend waving the
most frantic of them all. Bear in mind,
I was never “posted” to that isolated
position either. It was an opportunity
presented to me, one which I seized
and do not regret.

However, my time spent in Scotland
always seemed so temporary. This

may seem obvious, but in my short,
one-semester time abroad, I stayed in
a room that belonged to someone else,
as did the family I lodged with, and
even the community (or communities)
I was a part of. One must appreciate
that when staying in a university
residence room, you can decorate it
under the accepted knowledge and
pretence that it was temporary. But
it’s yours. You can say, “This is my
space, if but for awhile.” It never felt
like I could say that in Scotland. I’ve
always felt more like a guest.

Back in Prince George, a place that
has come to take on the term “home”
to me, I had built a foundation of
familiarity, one of friendships, trust,
and networks, the elements of social
capital of which Robert Putnam was so
fond of. Although I was always fully
aware of the temporary nature of my
exchange and the futility of striving
for the same level of social comfort
there as back home, I felt like I had
to regress to a contrived position of a
happy-go-lucky, token international
student who may have attend the
majority of his classes, but was
ultimately there for a good time, not
a long time. I felt like I was expected
to go to class, attend obligatory (if
genuinely fun) social events, pass my
exams, and eventually go home. I can
imagine some of you are thinking,
“Duh, what’s your point?” Being
relegated to that position exemplified a
problem which seemed present during
most of my time in Scotland.

I am a social individual — I observe,
I interact, I participate, I engage, and
given the means and opportunity, I
try to become involve and improve
the community I am involved in. It
is a personal trait like those that led
me to enrolling in the environmental
planning program at UNBC, majoring
in northern and rural community
planning. Small communities are my
specialty, and while it may seem a bit
egocentric, I like to know my actions
mean something, to the people around
me, and the place we live, work, play,
and yes, even study. However, while
over in Scotland, I was a student
planner - one without a community to
plan or really be a part of. This does
not at all speak to the university’s
support of international students,

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experience — not the one promised
in the brochures in the International
Office, the school website, or even
other exchange students. I had
a wonderful time, but it had its
challenges. Student exchanges can
never, nor should they in my opinion,
be summed up in ultimate definitions
of “good” or “bad.” They are like
camping — you may have a fantastic
time, see great sights, and experience
things that are exciting and new; you
may have a difficult time, experiencing

You--gain—a better understanding of
the challenges students might have
to overcome in contexts different
than your own, such as customs,
language, or content itself. Going
abroad reminded me that a _ well-
rounded education wasn’t, shouldn’t,
and can’t consist solely of classrooms,
notes, and exams. It needs to include
the people dealing with those things
along side you, through the tough
academic times, but also with you to
reap the social rewards. For those
of you attending these institutions of

¢¢6Going abroad reminded me that a well-rounded education
wasn’t, shouldn’t, and can’t consist solely of classrooms,

notes, and exams.

which was incidentally wonderful,
but more to my situation. My roles
seemed more of a spectator, observer
and consuming participant; a taker,
not a giver. Given that knowledge,
you might gain a clearer picture as to
why my final article doesn’t paint my
experience in the warm, fuzzy picture
of studying abroad that most imagine
before they sign up.

First of all, Scotland was never
warm (weather wise) and likely still

challenging adversity; or, most likely,
you will experience something in
between. But that’s why we go
camping — to appreciate both what
was out there, but also what’s waiting
for us back home, be it familiar
settings of friendly faces and places,
a routine soon to be invigorated and
refreshed, or passions remembered
and re-ignited.

School abroad does the same thing.

higher learning, I beseech you — find
an international student, buy them a
beer, invite them to dinner and make
a friend. They are portals to worlds
that sometimes seem beyond our
reach, and while they often cannot
completely satisfy our desire to know
what it’s like to be a student in another
country (something only an exchange
can truly do) they can surely give you
a taste.