I studied in United States of America for a semester in NC State University. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity as I gained a lot of exposure and worked a lot on my personal growth.

I enjoyed every bit of studying in Raleigh, North Carolina as it was a business town which helped me in a lot of ways as I am pursuing Business Management, hence whenever I visited the city I could see the offices of companies I want to work for. Additionally, Poole College of Management organised events which gave students like me the perfect opportunity to meet the recruiters.

Other than the academics part, my university had numerous sport facilities for free including 8 lawn tennis courts, an Olympic sized swimming pool, a gym and many other facilities. I made sure to make use of them which later led to improvement in my lawn tennis skills and to keep my body in shape.

Furthermore, NC State was home to various political rallies and fortunately I got the privilege to listen to Mrs. Michelle Obama, Mrs. Hilary Clinton and Mr. Bill Clinton live in my own university. Also I was lucky enough to listen to Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi in the same rallies.

Moreover, I chose United States as I was very keen on travelling to major business cities in US and I did travel to almost all of them. I made sure was I doing well in my exams but did realise that it was an amazing opportunity to travel as well. Hence whenever I felt that the work load was not too much, I planned a weekend trip with my flatmates.

I would also like to add that International Relations Office was very supportive and helped me a lot overall. I was very happy to see Dr Annette Kratz in Raleigh in October and truly felt that University of Surrey and the IRO cared about how we were performing. I would also like to thank Santander bank for their continuous support for students going abroad and to motivate them to work hard and to leave their comfort zone.

I would definitely recommend students to experience this wonderful once in a lifetime opportunity and to make new friends in different parts of the globe.

Tejas Kumar, Business Management