Apart from the academic side, the curriculum is designed to allow the students to enjoy while studying and exploring the UK, which is an exciting prospect for me as I love visiting new places and making new friends and memories that last a lifetime.
The Christmas and Easter spring breaks bring in a lot of excitement as the students get some free time to take a breather from their studies and tour around. The Christmas and Easter breaks are generally the longer ones, so students generally tend to plan to explore new destinations or head back home to return to what will possibly be the exam time. If you aren’t going home, you can take advantage of the day trips or weekend trips organised by the International Society. The International Society is an independent, not-for-profit organisation based in Greater Manchester and supported by the city’s Universities. From weekly socials to day trips to language classes, society has everything to make sure everyone feels like a part of the community.
Moreover, with Manchester being a big, vibrant city, the ease of transport to all places in the UK makes it the best place to live. You can easily fancy a weekend getaway and visit the beautiful Lake District or Peak District if you are a nature lover. The students of MSc IME were taken to Brathay-Lake District at the start of our semester. I made some good connections with the group bonding activities near the river Brathay and close to nature.
During the Easter break, I got an opportunity to visit Turkey and learn more about the history of the beautiful landscapes of Cappadocia and metropolitan Istanbul. Absolutely loved Turkish cuisine and Turkish hospitality. I also learned that the famous Turkish chef, Nusret Gökçe, popularly known as SaltBae, has his restaurant there, and I couldn’t miss the chance to visit it. A beautiful experience.
With the year timetable made available to you at the start of your academic year, it becomes fairly easy for you to plan ahead. I assume I would have a few days off from my dissertation work to go and visit Paris, which, apparently, I can travel via bus from London; how exciting! I have already been able to squeeze in day trips to Leeds, Traditional York and weekend trips to Bath, Bristol and London without letting it affect my studies.
Even if you can’t manage to go for trips, the societies and even the student reps of the course generally conduct socials and gatherings. My fellow student representatives and I organised a bowling social, and everyone who attended loved it, and I got to know my classmates a bit more. Moreover, it makes group learning very effective as it doesn’t feel like you are working with a stranger.
Thus, studying at AMBS, I have made sure I focus on academics and create memories at the same time, and the environment here allows me to do so.
