To be absolutely honest, I wasn’t sure if I should participate in the NUS Student Exchange Programme (SEP) at the start. Spending more than ten thousand dollars just to freeze my Cumulative Average Point (CAP) when I was already on a student loan seemed like a huge blow to my family’s finances. But after talking it through with my parents and my cousins, I realised that going abroad was a timely opportunity for me to experience a whole new culture and gain a deeper appreciation of English Literature. Where better to learn more about Medieval England than the United Kingdom itself? So I applied and to my amazement, I got offered a place at the University of Warwick in Coventry!
Coventry: The City of Culture
Some of you may be wondering: “Coventry? Where’s that?”
It’s right in the middle of England, in the aptly-named Midlands. It’s a 10-minute train ride away from the bustling city of Birmingham and an hour-long train ride from London. It’s quite convenient, especially when travelling to the other parts of the UK since it’s central to basically everything. However, it’s not much of a bustling city as compared to London, but hey, I’m not complaining: I actually like the peaceful vibes Coventry has.
In fact, it won the title of “City of Culture” back in 2017. Pretty neat, right? Plus, you probably don’t know this, but the phrase “Peeping Tom” originates from Coventry. Once upon a time, Lady Godiva (that’s right, the inspiration behind Godiva’s name and logo!) appealed to her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to lift the heavy taxes on the townspeople. He agreed on one condition: that she rides through the streets naked on a horse. She took the deal and told the town to close all their windows and doors on the day of her ride. Everyone did so... except Tom the tailor, who took a peek as she rode past his window.
A statue of Lady Godiva stands in Coventry till this very day. There’s also a clock depicting this legend in the city centre. As the hands strike the hour, the clock chimes and Lady Godiva emerges from the hole in the wall, riding through on her steed as Tom peeps above her.
Coventry has some nice shopping spots too! My favourite is Primark. If you’re in the UK, you definitely don’t want to miss out on this brilliant shopping place because everything is so cheap! I think I was super fortunate to be on exchange in early 2019, because that was when Primark teamed up with Harry Potter to sell awesome themed merchandise! I managed to get my hands on a 3-pouched Hogwarts purse for 2 pounds. Yeah, you heard right -- 2 pounds! That’s like less than S$5! Its original price was like 5 pounds but apparently there was a huge sale going on and it was the last piece and I got it! Seriously, Primark is every Singaporean’s dream.
There’s also the students’ favourite grocery spot, Poundland, where everything costs a single pound. I usually head there to buy milk, pasta and tomato sauce because it’s so much cheaper than Tesco! Coventry has its own IKEA too, if you need to buy some hangers or lamps at an affordable price! If you sign up as a member, you are entitled to free tea or coffee every day!
If you want to find out more about Coventry’s history, you should pay a visit to the Coventry Transport Museum (it’s free!). Most of you probably don’t know this, but Coventry used to be the world’s “Bicycle City”. It invented many different designs and innovative features such as the chain-driven rear wheel and equal-sized wheels -- all of which are still being used today! Afterwards, Coventry evolved into the “Motor City”, as it switched to focus on making cars and engines.
Another great place to check out is the Coventry Cathedral. Originally damaged from bombings during the Second World War, it has undergone major restorative work. The stained glass windows had to be replaced too and they did a beautiful job of it! Some of the ruins are left untouched for remembrance’s sake and are open to visitors.
The Warwick Campus Life
Living abroad meant that I got to stay on-campus for the first time! This was particularly exciting for me: I’ve watched so many films and television series depicting teenagers moving in and out of their rooms and having fun with roommates! Unfortunately, it turns out not to be the case.
In the UK, rooms are not shared, but hey, at least I got a whole bedroom to myself. I didn't need to worry about what my roommate might think of my hideous singing or bed hair.
The University of Warwick has 14 different halls of residences for undergraduates. I was very careful about my selection so I made an Excel sheet to help me tabulate the most suitable room
I actually applied for the exact same accommodations as my friends...but ironically, I got allocated to Westwood while they all had Claycroft. I was a little sad because Westwood was the furthest hall from my classes...until I remembered I had one of the biggest rooms on campus! My friends’ rooms were half the size of mine (laughs). Speaking of distance, it was a pain to get up and walk 15-minutes every morning to head to class.
We were encouraged to join clubs and societies during our exchange. I joined World@Warwick, a place for international students or people interested in other cultures to mingle. I took some weekly Japanese Language classes! I also tried to join the Korean Society in Warwick! Unfortunately, their dance sessions are held on Saturdays and I took trips out of Warwick most Saturdays so I could never make it… I did make a friend in Westwood (my Japanese neighbour!) who was part of the dance group and we did randomly dance to K-Pop in the kitchen. In addition, I joined the Pokemon Go community in Warwick! We occasionally met up for events like Raid Day and Raid Hour. I even hung out with some of them in London for the Lapras Raid Day event!
Oh, we had Canadian geese and ducks on our campus too! They were so noisy when it came to mating season…
Study Hard, Play Harder!
Here’s the reality check: contrary to popular belief, you do still need to study on exchange. You don’t want to be the only person who’s got an “Unsatisfied” on their report card! I’m quite fortunate to have only one examination on campus, but it meant that I had submission after submission to complete as summer approaches.
I took five modules, namely Medieval Alterities, English & German Romanticism, Philosophy Through Film, Queer Studies, and Restoration Drama. I loved all my professors! Classes are held in a pretty much similar way to Singapore’s, so I had no trouble fitting in. I had to get used to enunciating my words carefully though, because they wouldn’t be able to understand me otherwise! I never realised how fast I talked until I came to the UK. One thing I liked about their academic system is the meticulousness of their feedback for your work. The quality of the feedback is standardised across the campus: they summarise your points, evaluate them, list out your strengths and finally, provide suggestions for improvement. I was really struck by how detailed their feedback was! The workload was very manageable too, nothing too different from Singapore either. I had a text to read or a film to watch every week. I only struggled with Medieval English and the German texts -- I wasn’t used to Old English (and I’m still not) and I couldn’t read German at all (unlike my classmates), so I had to find English translations!
A plus point when studying drama in the UK: going to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon (where William Shakespeare was born!) and acting out some popular scenes there! It was crazy how we had the opportunity to discuss and act alongside one of the Company’s talented personnel. We also got to watch Shakespeare plays for five pounds heheheheh….. It’s great being a student in the UK.
After a week of studying, it’s time for a trip!! Most of my weekends are dedicated to exploring the UK or flying overseas. I jumped at the chance to go on some subsidised trips for students, conducted by the university itself. My Singaporean friends and I signed up for a three-day Edinburgh trip, priced around 113 pounds. The price included accommodation, two-way transportation, a tour of Edinburgh Castle and a buffet dinner so it was worth every penny! There were eight of us in total so it was perfect -- we had an entire room to ourselves which made everything so much easier. We didn’t need to worry about thefts and we were so familiar with one another that it felt like we were living at home rather than in a dorm. Aside from Edinburgh, we also went to York, London and Ireland (cheers to St. Patrick Day) together!
I also did a three-week Europe tour during my long Easter break in April with a few of them. We went to Paris Disneyland and Italy before going our separate ways. I was also incentivised to travel because of how cheap EU travels were (with Brexit and Covid, I don’t know if this still applies). Ryanair had affordable tickets -- I managed to score a 10-pound single-trip air ticket to Germany! So always remember to keep your eyes peeled for great prices!
In addition, I made it a point to apply for the London theatre online lotteries. I mean, if you’re in the UK, you should at least catch a show or two in London!! This is a great opportunity for musical and play lovers to score these tickets at a very affordable price! I won one for Aladdin -- I only had to pay 20 pounds (U.P. 63 pounds)!!! I also snagged a Wicked student ticket for 29 pounds.
Tips & Tricks
Make sure your school schedule leaves you with Mondays or Fridays (or both) free so that you can travel longer over the weekend!
Bring a backpack and a small sling-bag/fanny pack for budget flights! They only allow one carry-on luggage on the plane. Packing more means more money spent. The sling-bag/fanny pack sneakily helps to add on a bit of space for you!
Cooking together with friends helps to save money and cooking/washing up time!
It’s generally expensive to eat out in the UK (unless you want to eat fast food every day). It’s good to cook an excess for dinner so that you can pack it as the next day’s lunch to save cooking time! I also prepare lunch boxes for myself when I go out on day trips!
If you take a bus to the city centre/train station with friends, you can save money on transport with the NX Bus mTicket App!
Bring tote-bags wherever you go because plastic bags are chargeable!
Apply for London theatre lotteries every day!
Always, always check if there are student discounts!!!!
Psst-- if you’d like to find out more about my SEP, you can always comment below!
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This article was written by Paean Yeo, an English Literature and Film Studies major from the National University of Singapore. She had an exciting exchange adventure to the UK last year. When she's not writing, she's probably sleeping.
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