Student report: Kent University
by Mei-Kuie

When I started writing this, the past is like a film which replays again and
again in my mind. Because of the fact that I won't have any similar
experience again after my degree. However, the life may not be the same
again but the memory cannot be taken away.

There were three main reasons why I decided to come to the UK and to study
at the University of Kent at Canterbury (UKC). Firstly, it was about my research interest, domestic violence. I was a social worker for three years. I helped social workers who worked with battered women to co-ordinate with different professional organisations.

In the area of domestic violence, it is common knowledge that the first refuge
for battered women of the world was set up in England. Professor Jan Pahl at
UKC had done one of most early research on domestic violence in the UK. A
training for a PhD student in the UK is based on research. The School of
Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research at UKC has highest research
ratings(5*) in the UK. I think that those excellent academic settings are
good for me to build up my future academic career as a assistant professor
or researcher in the university.

A person like me, who used to be very passive in previous studies, for being a
PhD student life is not always smooth. Here I am expected to play an
active role not only in my study but also in my daily life. Although I have a
wonderful supervisor, I have to always know what I want and how to manage my schedule for everything. Sometimes, I feel isolated, alone and frustrated.
However, it is also a very good training for myself to build the strengths
of problem solving and the ability of individual research. Thinking back over the process I have been through, I am thankful for what my supervisor and
friends have done for me.

Secondly, it was about personal favour. Creative writing was one of my first
degree. As part of my ambition is to become a writer. English literature is
still my favourite. Charles Dickens and Jane Austin those great authors are
great favourites of mine. The English landscape used to appear in my dreams
so many times. I used to tell myself that one day I will visit there and
search places which I read from the books.

Finally, it was about where I am from. Taiwan is located in linking to the
Pacific Ocean and Mainland Asia. Its location creates a colourful and
diverse culture and easy to attach the others in Asia. At the same time, the
UK links to the Atlantic Ocean and Mainland Europe. The origins of the
western culture was from here. It is good for me to experience the western
multi-culture

If you ask me what the most worthy thing is during my stay in England, my
answer is that open eyes to see the world and open the mind to accept people
from different culture. If I were in my country, I would not imagine that I
attended international conferences and presented my research in English in
front of people who are from worldwide. If I was in my country, I would not
believe that I performed tap-dancing with groups of local people on the
theatre for the pantomime. If I were in my country, I would not imagine that I
visited my friends around European countries.

So, three years ago when I opened my window and watched Canterbury
Cathedral, I continually pinched my cheek because I couldn't believe that I
was in the city where I heard from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and
Charles Dickens's David Copperfield. My dream for ten years finally came
true. What about you?