During the spring semester of 2026, I studied abroad at the University of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. Between classes, multiple hours on British trains, and my many Steak & Ale Pies at Nottingham House, I thoroughly enjoyed and experienced my time in Sheffield to the fullest. Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire near Manchester, Leeds, and the Peaks District, famous for its contribution to the Industrial Revolution and steel production. Now, in a post-industrious climate, Sheffield is best known for its presence of students as it boasts both the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, two major British institutions. The school that I attended, the University of Sheffield, is famous for its vast campus, international programs, and being a part of the Russell Group. The University of Sheffield has many schools and different programs, but since my Global Theme is Culture and Politics, I mostly spent my time in classes that circled around British politics, government, and culture. I chose the University of Sheffield because of my fascination with England, their geography and city planning programs, and my friend, Kate Fraser, who conducted her study abroad at the University of Montana last year, studied at the University of Sheffield as well. 

Before I left for Sheffield, I had no idea what to expect. I knew that the city of Sheffield was much larger than any place I had lived prior, so I knew I was going to be overwhelmed. I also expected that I would have plenty of culture shock to accompany me during my first time in the United Kingdom. Luckily, because of my friend, Kate, I had realistic expectations regarding the workload, social life, and atmosphere of Sheffield before arriving. Once I did arrive, everything felt a lot less overwhelming than I would have expected. The grocery stores weren’t vastly different, people were much nicer than non-Brits try to make them out to be, and I didn’t experience all of the culture shock that I was expecting. It wasn’t until Easter Holiday (the United Kingdom’s much-lengthier version of our spring break- our’s was almost 4 weeks long!) when I returned to Sheffield from my vacation to Italy and Greece that I began to feel homesick for Montana, which didn’t fully leave until I returned home in late June. 

While living in Sheffield wasn’t a shock within itself, I still had moments of surprise and reflection. I lived in a student-living flat with 5 other roommates, who were all students studying abroad from a variety of other countries. All of them were from different parts of Europe including Lena from Portugal, Mark from the Netherlands, Julie from Belgium, Sanyi from Hungary, and Sarah from France. So while learning about the United Kingdom and all that it has to offer, I also got to learn so much about other parts of the world through my roommates. Often on Wednesday nights, my roommates and I would get together and make a large dinner for all of us, including different dishes from our home countries. I got to experience both that and constantly visiting my friend Kate’s flat that she shared with multiple roommates as well. I would come over almost weekly for movie nights with Kate and her roommates who were from all over the United Kingdom, and through that I got to learn so much about the different communities, cultures, and livelihoods in the United Kingdom. 

During my time in Sheffield, I also had the opportunity to travel a lot. Luckily my boyfriend, Will Eaton, was also on the exact same study abroad program from the University of Montana to the University of Sheffield as I was, so we got to do a lot of traveling together. We explored a lot of places in the United Kingdom together such as London, Manchester, Bristol, Bath, the Peaks District, Bakewell, York, Haworth, and even went up to Edinburgh with our friend Kate. We also got to explore Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Rome, Florence, and Venice in Italy, and Athens, Arachova, and Delphi in Greece. After my last week of classes in June, my mom flew to the United Kingdom and we explored London, Sheffield, Bakewell, York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Scottish Highlands together. 

My experience at the University of Sheffield and my general time abroad will absolutely aid my further work with the Franke Global Leadership Initiative. This experience has allowed me to open my mind to further opportunities, to always accept any adventurous chance given, and how to prioritize both analyzing and experiencing a different culture at the same time.