Luka Nikolaisvili

Why did you decide to travel abroad?: In my opinion, the United Kingdom is the best place to travel abroad for an advanced education.

Why did you choose to study at Plymouth University? How did you learn about it?: Through the University of Trent study abroad website, and my advisor was Kate Logan. Kate helped me with everything, many thanks to her!

What was your experience like? What are some of the differences & similarities with Trent?: To be honest, everything was different compared to Trent. Plymouth has 3 classes total for a semester that will be your full load, but they are putting far more hours in the lectures and the labs. I had 2 hours of lab per class, 3 days a week. Plymouth also has very big online library full of their resources that you can search for any topic you’d like to; on the other side I love the physical library at university of Trent we have a lot of books on every topic that we can think about. When it comes to testing there are no exams for some classes, instead what they do is ask students to write the professional reports about the classes.

What did you find was the most challenging/difficult while abroad?: The most challenging part was adapting to the culture shock; I thought something was wrong when I could not hear some accents. As you know, different groups of people live in the UK, Scottish, Irish, and so on. They all had different accents that I was hearing for the first time in my life other than the pure London Accent. I had to think about things they were saying for a month or two. Everything is different in the UK; the doors open on the other side; cars drive the opposite way and many other things. Also, I could not see my parents in person, which was brutal.

In your opinion, what would you say are the benefits of studying abroad?: The benefits of studying abroad are that you realize the importance of studying and living outside of your comfort zone. It is important not to stay in a bubble because it won’t take you far.

What was one of your favourite memories from your time abroad?: My favourite memories from abroad were my Kick-Boxing Gym Coaches and the friend that I made there. It was an incredible journey, and the tournament that I boxed and won with T.K.O was fantastic. I improved my self-defense skills, learned UK-style boxing, and practiced Muay Thai. I have always wanted to do martial arts in the UK because that is the best place to study things like this.

If someone told you they were thinking about studying abroad but weren’t convinced they should, what would you tell them?: I will tell them that if they genuinely want to find out who they are, they must go far away and take a walk of faith alone all the time, sometimes you must take a path alone, and it will be full of wisdom that will give you not only a diploma but a lifelong experience that you will never forget.