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Visiting the University of Cambridge over the late autumn/early winter 2019 was an adventurous experience for me; leaving the comfort zone of Makerere University in Uganda, opening myself up to the experience of studying in a foreign country; meeting new students, new faculty, all with different norms and customs to what I was familiar with. Staying in Cambridge brought back fond memories of when I lived a university student life. They always say that university days are the best days ever and it is dead right.
These nostalgic memories were rekindled by the atmosphere of student life at Churchill College where I resided during my
stay. This involved the meeting of lots of new people some of whom were international students as I was and relating to them
very easily along with the feeling in the air that “everything is possible” . The first few days of my visit were quite exciting, since everything was new, so different and somewhat sophisticated, compared to back home. The ambience, the people, the everyday amenities and the academic climate, all making me feel that joy that coming to Cambridge known as ‘one of the
world’s top and prestigious Universities’ was the best decision to have made in my career. There was hardly any initial culture shock in arriving to the UK from warm, sunny Kampala, Uganda at 27-320C; to cold, rainy Cambridge at 2-40C. I had frequently counselled myself during the preparation of my visit about the weather to expect including the long dark nights. The beauty of the warm, orange-yellow, brown leaves of the autumn however was fascinating to experience once again, especially during my visit to the stately home at Audley’s End and Gardens in the countryside, with the THRiVE coordinator.
