My Year Abroad in America as a Sports Science Student

Hi! I’m Louis, a final year Sport and Exercise Science student. This past academic year I went away on my study abroad year. I went to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) in America’s Mid-West.

I always wanted to do a year abroad. For most courses, the university offers an optional year abroad in between your second and third year, and it is a great opportunity to go and live away from home for a year and throw yourself into foreign university life!

UoB made it easy to see all the options I had to choose from. With over 330 partner universities in 46 countries, there were so many choices, but I knew America or Canada was where I wanted to go. I used the Go Global tools to narrow down my searches to unis that taught my course and that looked of interest.

I chose UWM as it was in a great city, Milwaukee, which I already knew was great for sport, and it was near Chicago, a city I really wanted to visit. It also had a great academic sport programme, and had the opportunity to study some other areas I am interested in (I ended up doing modules in Spanish, the Second World War, and Pharmacology). UoB also put me in contact with a former student who went to UWM, and I could ask them for advice about their experience.

I didn’t know anyone else going there, which forced me to get myself out of my comfort zone. I am often quite shy, but getting myself out and involved in things was amazing for my confidence. I joined the tennis team, where I met some amazing people, and we got to travel around the country for tournaments, my favourite one being to Louisville in Kentucky!

I did meet some other international students, and we took various trips, my favourite one being to Nashville, where we watched a college American football game, and partied hard to country music! I also went to Arkansas during spring break to go camping for a week, and I went to Boston for thanksgiving, which are both amazing holidays to make the most of if you end up in America or Canada!

Even though they are halfway across the world, I have stayed in contact with lots of people since leaving America, and have already had a few people come and visit me this summer! I have made some lifelong friends that I can’t wait to go and visit again.

I couldn’t recommend a year abroad enough. UoB also offers a semester or full year abroad at it’s Dubai campus, which many students take advantage of and enjoy too!