Why I chose to study at The University of Hull

When I first arrived at the University of Hull, I was incredibly overwhelmed with my new surroundings. My student accommodation was one that you saw in movies; all the houses on my street were identical. However, once I had unpacked and settled in and met my new housemates I instantly loved it. Starting off as complete strangers, you would not believe how close you become after the semester has finished. It was like a little family was formed. Living in a student house was one of the best choices as I had the opportunity to live and experience a variety of cultures. My roommates were from France, America, Germany and the Ukraine. So you can imagine what the family dinners consisted of.

I initially chose Hull as I had heard through friends and family that Hull had a reputable business program and a strong exchange relationship with QUT. This partnership assured me that this exchange semester would improve my Business studies and educational development.

Hull itself is small town located in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is renown for its professional football team and its famous cheesy chips. Although it was only a small town, it gave me the opportunity to become good friends with the locals and create life long friendships. Hull is also conveniently located about an hour away from Leeds, which allowed me to travel to Dublin, Copenhagen and Edinburgh all for around 20 pounds. It was also an overnight ferry trip to Amsterdam, making weekend trips a must. Hull was also extremely affordable. Many items were considerably cheaper than the South, especially the nightlife.

 I didn’t really have an initial budget for my exchange. I decided to go over with the approach of having ‘no regrets’ and knowing that Hull was known for its cheap prices really did help. On average, I would spend approximately 120 pounds a week which including weekly grocery shopping, clubbing nights out, taxis, home cooked family dinners and the occasional recovery meal of cheesy chips.

I would definitely recommend travelling whilst abroad!! Make the most of your time overseas as it goes incredibly quickly. Make sure you don’t get lazy and too comfortable, keep remembering where you are in the world and travel as much as possible (while still studying and passing, of course). Make the most Ryanair’s 20 pound return flights to Europe. Like everyone says, the world is your oyster and it’s what you make of it. I was lucky enough to travel throughout the June/ July break as the Hull University semester didn’t start till late September. I explored many parts of Europe and honestly had the best 3 months of my life.

Also join a sporting team!! Wednesday nights were by far my favourite night in Hull. It was when each sporting team had ‘circle’, aka socials where socialise with your sporting team and then head over to the nightclub on campus where each team soon partied on. These socials involved horrendous dress up themes, which changed week to week and also the opportunity to meet other sports teams when there were joint socials. If you manage any spare room in your suitcase, I highly recommend packing some dress up options. These nights were seriously great, nothing better than a blast from the past (S Club 7) and current bangers like J Biebs.

One tip would be definitely packing your favourite Australian foods, snack and chocolates to overcome homesickness. Tim Tams is a must as these can be found in certain shops however for three times the price in Australia and also vegemite. You cannot go wrong with vegemite on toast for breakfast. Necessities like phone, cameras and laptops are also important as it is a great way to stay in contact with everyone back home.