By Carl Grevel
I suppose that will be the question I try and answer here. I have spent the majority of the 2019/2020 academic year on an exchange programme in the US that allowed me to experience life at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) without having to go into $30,000 debt. American universities are for the most part how you’d imagine them to be, Greek Life and all. The university campus was absurdly American, featuring a nationally televised college football team (The Volunteers), and the worlds 6th largest stadium (Neyland Stadium). During the first football game against Georgia State, we saw a member of the band collapse from exhaustion in the middle of the field. The Vols (our team) ended up losing against Georgia State, which was embarrassing for us all, but at least they rescued the guy who had collapsed on the field. That part was worth it.
Culture
It was extremely rewarding to fully dive into student life at an American University. I did, however, find that a few Americans acted like things were totally normal and common when they weren’t. Here are my examples: Driving for 10 hours to go visit your family for a week is just what you do. There are pseudo-professional athletes on your campus that are treated like gods, get special tutoring to not completely fail their degree, and almost none of them make it to the big leagues after college. It is also just accepted that all first-years and exchange students share a room with a complete stranger. My complete stranger with whom I shared a room until the lockdown was nice though. Peter and I get along great.
Academics
UTK was great for Anthropology. The classes I took ranged from the archaeology of the southeastern united states to helping recover human remains at the Anthropological Research Facility (ARF). ARF is more commonly known as the world’s first body farm, founded by Dr William M. Bass. It helps that my exchange year was pass/fail, though I did manage a 3.89 GPA for the classes I took. Overall, getting good grades was less stressful than at Kent as there was more coursework, and the workload tended to be more evenly distributed across the semester. The learning environment is bound to be very different at a foreign university, as is the course content that is available.
Experiences
While I did get a little homesick during the first few months, I really felt that the way UTK managed to surround you with other international exchange students really helped build a sense of family.
In fact, I even had the company of three other British students. This allowed us the chance to reminisce over Loyd Grossman tomato sauce and PG tips.
I would certainly advocate for you, as an anthropology student to complete a year abroad if it is in your cards.
I would certainly advocate for you, as an anthropology student to complete a year abroad if it is in your cards. There are also alternatives offered at the University of Kent such as a year in professional practice, a year spent volunteering, or a year-long data science course.
In no way do I regret the year I have had, and you certainly won’t regret your year abroad.
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