Hello, my name is Shaulan! I am from the Maldives and am currently doing an MSc in Water and Environmental Engineering at the university of Surrey. I am currently living in the student accommodations at the Manor Park. I started my course in September, and already it feels like time is running by so fast. When I first came here, everything was so green and there was so little rain. Now, the leaves have gone through their stages of life and have fallen and started wilting, crunching and crumbling by the wind and people walking over them. The sky is almost perpetually grey and cloudy, with sudden rain and wind being quite normal. The sun and warmth is a rarity that I have come to appreciate more as I get less and less of it.
This is my first time in the UK, and as an avid traveller and learner, I have been looking forward to this for a long time. Snow is something I have never experienced as where I come from there are only two monsoons, hot and rainy. The temperatures are now much below what I am used to, and it has been something of a struggle to get used to the outside being colder than the inside, when I have known it to be the opposite most of my life. I am very much looking forward to experiencing snow, building my first ever snowman, and having a snowball fight with friends I have made here!
Throughout the next year, as an international ambassador, I hope to bring you information on relevant topics that might help you make up your choices, whether you are trying to decide to come to The University of Surrey, or even if you are already here and finding out more about where we are living. I also want to share with you some of my culture, and food that we regularly eat in Maldives. Additionally, I hope to travel around UK, and maybe even the rest of Europe, and update you on the experiences that I go through and share with you scenic and exciting places that I find along the way!
I found a flag of Maldives at MySurrey Hive!
It feels great to be represented here!
Walking the green pathway to The University from Manor Park
Writing this blogpost has been fun, and I hope to have more content for you to read soon, as I continue this brand-new chapter of my life at the University of Surrey!
Cheers,
Shaulan
