A Reflection on Studying Abroad at Cambridge

Or things I appreciated, things I learned, and things I wish I had known.

This post is a bit overdue, but after my semester abroad, I reflected a lot on my time at Cambridge and how different things turned out than I expected. 

Before I decided to study abroad, I made a list of pros and cons. Topping the pros side was the opportunity to travel and learn from new experiences, new people, and new ways of teaching. Topping the cons was leaving a school I loved. Perhaps my reluctance to go was a bit reminiscent of Stockholm Syndrome, but the endless opportunities, the rigor of the work, and especially the people made MIT a hard place to leave. But I was only missing 12.5% of my time at MIT in exchange for completely new experiences, and that seemed like a trade-off worth making. So I signed the form, bought my ticket, and 9 months later, I was on a plane to the other side of the Atlantic.

I had high expectations for Cambridge. I thought it would be similar to my summer in Singapore: incredibly memorable and filled with people who influenced my world as much as I hope I did theirs. I would get the chance to explore new ways of learning, change my perspectives, and gather experiences that would influence my future. But things ended up a bit differently. I guess it was a clash of cultures, but things didn't click as well here: I didn't feel as open around the people I met. In Singapore, I felt comfortable right off the bat. Cambridge was different. I felt like half the time I was holding myself back, especially when my lame jokes and over-excitability were often met with an uneasy seriousness. And then there were the conversations. My favorite way to learn about people is to learn about their dreams, but that didn't seem like a topic most people talked about here. And although I found my experiences valuable, I wish I had a better idea of what I should expect going in. I would have still done it, but more complete information would have been helpful to getting acquainted. Hopefully, this account of studying abroad will give an honest insight into my experiences.

Things I Appreciated

• The new friends who helped me to adjust to this new world and made me feel welcome.
• Getting the time to re-balance my life socially, academically, and personally.
• Exploring new interests like blogging, salsa dancing, badminton, and working on projects that I never would have had time for at MIT.
• Getting the time to focus on what I want in the future and how I can best contribute to the world.
• The rest of my exchange student compadres who helped keep a little piece of home close by.
• Getting the chance to travel around Europe and become more familiar with the world.
• May Ball!

Things I Learned

• Traveling is NOT a good way to relax; that shit is exhausting .-. My traveling limit is about 2 weeks before I become a literal vegetable.
• There's a lot to be gained from adopting new hobbies. It introduces you to a whole set of unexpected lessons. For example, I'm now oddly knowledgeable about African Gods from doing Cuban salsa.
• After lots of reflection, I've figured out that it doesn't matter to me what I do, as long as I'm helping people realize their potential for impact. Engineering is just another skill for my tool belt (along with empathy, leadership, design, etc.) of ways to approach this ultimate goal.
• The theory behind engineering (what Cambridge largely focuses on) doesn't excite me nearly as much as the applications of it.

Things I Wish I Had Known

• British culture is very different from American culture. Most notably, I missed the obnoxious laughter and the authentic openness of Americans. I missed people laughing at my lame jokes whether it was out of pity or actual amusement, and I missed people sharing their dreams, even to strangers. Maybe it's something about being brought up with the idea of the American dream that makes us dream big, but I've noticed that Americans often have concrete goals they're aiming for whereas I was met with a lot of complacency about the future from British friends.
• Studying abroad is a lot more relaxing than another semester at MIT. The rigor and difficulty is toned down significantly.
• Academics are focused on the theoretical, and hands-on opportunities are limited. Cambridge pales in comparison to MIT in terms of hands-on experience. Even machine shops are highly limited to students. But how do you become a good engineer without learning how to use the tools of engineering?
• The academics are a lot more grades focused. That might be fueled by the intense competition (grades are shown publicly) or by the way academics is handled here (a lot of my questions were met with "that won't be on the test"), but I'm unsure.

But after all of this, my experience ended up being unexpectedly as expected. I did learn to think in a different, more theoretical way and adopt an appreciation for digging deeper into topics. I did change my perspectives by better appreciating aspects of the world I left behind. And I definitely altered the path to my future. With all the time to explore new hobbies and puzzle through my own thoughts, I was able to focus on making my goals a little more concrete and get involved in projects and hobbies that I will carry back to the firehose.

Can't wait to be back, MIT :)