Due to the nature of the four-year undergraduate course that Edinburgh boasts, a year abroad is a common choice. Hence, you might expect the university to be well-rehearsed in preparing students for this move, especially those embarking on a compulsory year for languages.
Yet, I speak on behalf of many from my cohort in complaining about the provision we’ve received. The Study and Work Away Service (SWAY) is supposed to be a supportive and informative resource for the many complications, technicalities, and considerations that go into planning a year abroad. But in reality, students are left uninformed with an abyss of decisions to make. SWAY coordinators are only available once in a blue moon, and pressing questions are responded to with endless forwards searching for someone with an ounce of expertise to conclude that no one really has all the answers.
If it’s simply the case of the onus being on us students who decide to go abroad to navigate this sea of technicalities ourselves then, quite frankly, that’s fair enough. But the misleading branding of SWAY as a supportive resource is confusing and disingenuous. By no means am I discouraging people from taking the opportunity to study or work abroad in their third year (I think it’s an amazing thing to do), I am simply telling a cautionary tale about the realities of the process and the uselessness of the university.
“Obligatory ‘Distances To Cities At The End Of A Country’ Sign Post” by Pat Scullion is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.