Luisa

UK bucket list

If you made the wonderful decision to move to the UK to pursue your undergraduate studies or as part of an exchange student, I assume it’s partly because you want to experience part of the culture this country has to offer. With that in mind, allow me to suggest to you my top ten things to do while here to make the most, not only of the country but of the perks of living in this beautiful corner! (more…)

Luisa May 22nd, 2019 Cornwall, Exploring Devon and Cornwall, Food and eating, Lifestyle, Studying abroad, The city of Exeter, Year Abroad

Things that surprised me about the UK

When moving to England there are certain things everybody comments about, a little bit about the weather, a subtle comment about Netflix’s The Crown, perhaps even a nod towards the imaginary that they really love their tea. Additionally, you will most likely know a lot of things from the culture that undoubtedly moved you towards considering and eventually choosing a university on this lovely little island. For me, I knew quite a bit about the culture, my school was a ‘British School’, I had visited quite a few times, and some of my closest friends had done their undergrad in different British universities. So over-all, I felt I had a decent picture or understanding of how my time there would go.

Nonetheless, the theory of living in England and the practice of living in England are quite different things and within the reality of it, there were a few things that actually took me by surprise. These are things that are probably no secret to anyone, I even knew about some of them coming here, but, again, the way they played out made them come as a surprise. (more…)

Luisa May 22nd, 2019 Life on Campus, Lifestyle

What’s Next?

Ten years of my life were dedicated to practicing horseback riding. I loved the feeling of companionship that you get when you train with a horse long enough, I loved the speed, the adrenaline, I loved feeling the change of pace when you (gently) nudge him/her to start cantering instead of trotting, and certainly I loved jumping and doing an obstacle courses. My family constantly used this sport as a metaphor of what life can be like, you see your obstacle, you take your time to get ready, you face it and you overcome it. Alternatively, you take your time to get ready, you forget a detail, the horse doesn’t follow through (as horses naturally won’t jump unless you give them the incentive to do so) and you fall down. When this happens, though, you get back up –not necessarily immediately, sometimes it takes a good solid minute to get back up from a bruised ego– you quite literally shake it off and then you try again. Either way you do not give up. (more…)

Luisa May 22nd, 2019 Careers, Higher Education, International, Miscellaneous

5 quick breakfast ideas for students

Even though I am somewhat of an early bird, I still have my mornings and days when I truly don’t want to get out of bed, much less get out of bed just to go to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. However, even when I’m tired or just not feeling it, skipping breakfast is a no-go for me. Breakfast is an essential part of my morning routine and having a good one helps me feel like I’m off to the right start.

To this end I love finding the balance between something easy and quick, while also being wholesome. Thankfully this is not hard to achieve. It just requires a bit of preparation, but nothing too extreme, I promise. So here are my five to go breakfasts for when I rather spend some extra time in my bed. (more…)

Luisa April 30th, 2019 Food and eating, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous

Why I chose to study MA Theatre Practice at the University of Exeter

It is that time of year, the time where the questions about your next step become more imminent and the pressure seems to be slightly on as the possibility to apply to a number of universities opens again. Thinking about the future, how this one decision seems to have much more weight than the others in shaping what your life will turn out to be. And to be quite honest the fact that there is a huge variety of options for “what to study?” “where to study?” “why there and not here?”, makes the whole process even more daunting. Now to that added stress factor in that you might be considering moving away from your country to study abroad.

If you are indeed thinking about doing your undergrad or your postgraduate studies abroad, I am not going to deny that it can be harder to make this decision. This is mainly because most of us cannot visit campus on open days and are essentially missing out on the one to one information and the vibe that you can get from the university during these events. As a result, we must rely heavily on the information we find online about accommodation, studies, social life, academic style: literally every aspect of what “uni life” means.

Taking this into account allow me to help you (even in the slightest) by telling you how I came to the decision of choosing Exeter. And why, even though is not technically a “drama academy”, I stand by my choice of studying theatre in a university as opposed to any other option. (more…)

Luisa April 30th, 2019 International, Life on Campus, Miscellaneous, Postgraduate, Preparing for University

A day in the life: MA Theatre Practice edition

Coming to Exeter, for me, not only meant studying something that I’m truly passionate about, but also it meant moving away from home for the first time. During my undergraduate degree, logistically and practically it was better if I stayed at home. My university was just fifteen minutes away (when the traffic was not a nightmare) and it really did not make any sense for me to move away and add an extra cost to things. So even though I managed my on schedule and my own things, we all know what living with your parents is like. You can only manage so much.

Clearly my routine and the way I handle things needed to change when I moved here, and to be honest with you I was looking forward to it. So I’m taking this time to reflect how my day to day is and hopefully give you an idea of how life can go by in Exeter as a MA student. Just bear in mind that this is how I chose to organize my time and it doesn’t mean that you should do it exactly like this. (more…)

Luisa April 3rd, 2019 International, Lectures and Seminars, Miscellaneous, Postgraduate