Sheffield offers the perfect mix of academic experience, exciting social life and green spaces

I first heard about Sheffield through Across The Pond, a representative of the University that I used when applying to study in the UK. I also came to visit the University in the autumn the year before I started to study here and did research online of different rankings and watched some videos from the University’s Youtube channel.

Doing a degree in Politics and International Relations in Sheffield is challenging, fun, sometimes exhausting, but for the most part what I would call an experience of a lifetime. You get to experience how what you are reading and hearing about in the academic work you do is relevant to issues that you are interested in in the “real world” on a daily basis. As you get further into the degree you also get to tailor the degree and your answers to assessments to what you are most interested and engaged with, which is one of the parts that I enjoy the most. I also like the fact that my classmates also share my interest in politics, but they all have different backgrounds/ stories to tell, something that leads to some great discussions and opportunities to learn from each other. Being able to learn from world leading academics and relate that knowledge to current political events and discuss those events with other students and the academics has been a positive of my course and department.

For me the University and the city offer the perfect mix of a good academic experience, exciting social life, proximity to the Peak District National Park and the ease of getting to and from other big cities in the UK and Norway. The people here are really friendly and the weather is not as bad as some people make it out to be. I like living in Sheffield because, although it is a big city and has a lot to offer, it feels more like a smaller town due to the plethora of green spaces and the friendly people. Having the Peak District on your doorstep when studying in Sheffield is definitely one of the best parts of life in Sheffield as a student. Being able to jump on a bus for under an hour and then suddenly being in the middle of the beautiful and relaxing Peak District in a town like Castleton, makes living in an otherwise relative busy city much more enjoyable. Together with the amount of green spaces and parks in the city, the transition from living in a smaller town in Norway to Sheffield was not as challenging as it could have been. The Peak District provides a great escape from a sometimes stressful and busy city.

When I came to Sheffield, I decided that I wanted to partake in an organised sport that would allow me to keep my mind of the academic work for a couple of hours a week. Back home in Norway I was part of my local swimming team, and during my time as a swimmer I competed in multiple national finals, however when I came here, I wanted to start something completely different and less time consuming. After taking part in a “Give it a go” session in Freshers week I decided to join the University Ultimate Frisbee team. Ultimate Frisbee can best be described as American football crossed with netball but with a disc. It’s a super fun and engaging sport through which I have made many new friends across levels and fields of study.