Friendly, outgoing people beautiful historic scenery, catchy accents and the chance to travel was what I was told to expect once I got to York, England.
I had the opportunity to talk with students that went in the past and they gave me a little more insight, such as what phones to buy, how to exchange money, and what alcohol to drink Not a single person chosen by the Pacific University Abroad Office spoke with me about bad experiences told me anything bad. I think the worst thing I heard, was that there wasn’t a lot of fruit to choose from.
What Pacific failed to mention, was the constant drinking that takes place, at least in York. Freshmen waking you up at 5 a.m. every morning, Monday-Sunday-if you managed to get to sleep in the first place-because they’re stumbling in drunk or ‘mortared’ as they call it. You don’t realize going to social events with sports teams can actually result in your drink getting drugged. Pacific doesn’t tell you that you’ll have the chance of getting stalked by a student on the brink of a psychotic break, nor how to deal with this situation if it occurs.
They don’t give you any indication that attendance isn’t taken, nor the fact that your grade isn’t dependent upon your attendance. So, theoretically you could skip every class and still pass, just as long as you do good on the final.
You’re not told that compared to the deals of other phone companies, O2 is actually one of the worst phone companies to go through. And lastly, you’re not warned the food there sucks. Instead, a beautiful picture is painted, trying to draw you in. An attractive image of a medieval wall surrounding the city and cobble stone filling the roads is portrayed.
You’re told you’ll make friends with effort, that the classes and professors are great. And, you are not told that you’ll have a food card allowing you money for food in the dining hall.
Not that when feeling the need to be moved to a new accommodation, you will get put in a unit with a kitchen but you’re still required to keep your meal plan with the campus, despite the fact that you would have to walk a mile to and from campus, and despite the fact that lunch and dinner isn’t served on the weekends.
This doesn’t mean that every aspect of York was poor but I can say make sure you ask around for other people that went to the place you’re considering going to be able to get a more accurate idea of what your experience may be like.
Talk to others that haven’t been asked to speak on the university’s behalf because those people will paint the true vision of what that place is like, rather than painting the picture the university wants you to see. There’s more that goes on than meets the eye.
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