On Saturday September 8th, I started my journey here at the University of Stirling! With my two large suitcases and traveling backpack, I got help from two housekeepers to bring my bags upstairs and welcome me home for the next four months. Here at Uni, I have my own bedroom and bathroom with a great view of the loch right on campus! I eagerly unpacked, excited to have a place to finally settle down in and feel like home. I am glad I brought a few photos of friends and family to make my dorm room feel less like a hotel room, I kept my door open as well, equally as excited to meet my unknown flatmates. By the end of the night I met all of my flatmates which include: Daniel from Chicago, John from Sweden, Jess from Maryland, Jimmy from Ireland, and Daniel from Kansas. Later that night, I joined my flatmates and their friends for some dancing at the student union for a "freshers mixer."
On Sunday, I attended a study abroad orientation and explored campus a bit more. My flatmates and some additional friends walked into Stirling to grab some fish and chips and stopped at Tesco to grab some groceries. Since I don't have class on Monday's, I checked out Stirling's gym and prepared myself for class on Tuesday, researching my books and signing up for my seminar classes. For dinner, my flatmates and I checked out the Venue, the bar located right in the student union for some burgers and pints.
During my time here at Uni, I am taking three modules: Philosophy, Reading Film & TV, and Scriptwriting. My classes are split between a large lecture hall, a small seminar class, and a film screening class. On Tuesday, I thankfully did not get lost on my way to Philosophy and my Reading Film & TV class. I also explored the club fair and an on campus cafe with a girl from my study abroad program. After surviving my first day of classes at Uni, my flatmates and I decided to celebrate by exploring the downtown nightlife at Stirling! We eventually ordered Domino's after arriving back at our flat late that night. It seems like some things don't differ between Stirling and Xavier.
On Wednesday, the sun decided to shine a bit here in Scotland and I was able to run outside and follow the trail that goes around the loch on campus! It was absolutely beautiful and reminded me of Strouds Preserve back in West Chester, PA. I explored some hidden forest trails that led to an abandoned gate entrance and even spotted a graveyard in the distance! I also finally caught a glimpse of Airthrey Castle, located right on campus, unfortunately the castle is currently under construction. Earlier that day, I also snapped a selfie with an alpaca and checked out the sports fair with a few of my flatmates.
On Thursday's, I don't have any scheduled classes either so I got up in the morning and kayaked on the loch. It was an amazing experience to say I was able to kayak right on my college campus! After kayaking, I decided to check out the pool. The University of Stirling is home to the National Academy of Swimming and where U.K. Olympians train as well. I was excited to check out a new pool and eager to get back into the water. It is so easy to stay active on campus with so many opportunities to work out and enjoy the outdoors!
On Friday, I made my way to my way to my Scriptwriting class and my first seminar classes! After class, my flatmates and some additional friends took the bus to grab a train into Edinburgh. We got tickets to see a rugby match between the teams of Edinburgh and Connacht. We booked an Air B&B and everyone just talked and watched Netflix for the night together. The next morning, nearly everyone had a scheduled tour around Edinburgh through their own study abroad program and I did some solo exploring around Old Town. I explored some new shops and restaurants and checked out a few pop-up farm and art markets in the city. One of the coolest places I explored was a large vintage store located right in the Grassmarket square!
After making my way back to campus on Saturday afternoon, I settled myself back into my dorm room and called it an early night. On Sunday morning, the Mountaineering Club at Stirling was offering a "hill top climb" to Dumyat, the mountain conveniently located directly behind campus! The hike was a great opportunity to meet new people and explore Stirling more! The top offered amazing views but my friends and I were nearly blown away with the strong gusts of winds. Afterwards, my friends and I checked out a vintage clothing fair on campus and we grabbed groceries at the store to prepare ourselves for the upcoming week!
I am finally starting to settle down here at Uni! The first week was so exciting to meet new people and experience new opportunities. I am so excited to continue to meet new people and see what the rest of my second week will hold for me. Check back in soon for another blog post about my second week at Stirling and my day trip around Scotland!
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