Harley Botte- Blog Abroad
Blog #1
"I am not unfamiliar with the United Kingdom, it is a place I have been coming to since I was eight years old to visit my grandparents, yet it is still a place that surprises me...” As I write this, I am sitting in my slightly unpacked flat in the city of Sheffield waiting for my next burst of motivation to hit so I can finish the task at hand. It's harder than I thought it would be, especially since I am not necessarily new to this part of the world. I think it has set in that this is real– that this is my life until next June. I do not feel any regret whatsoever. I have actually never felt as sure of anything before. I am a person who likes to consider herself certain of nothing, which could seem like a disconcerting way to go through life for some, but for me it simply is how I work. That is how I know I made the correct decision in studying abroad as it all happened in accordance with the way I have led my life, which is mostly by chance. Less than three weeks away from the late deadline I applied for the program, not thinking anything of it, but simply relying on my good feeling about the whole situation. When I got in, it felt like a breath of fresh air and like I could actually start to breathe. I essentially chose a random university in a city where I only had heard of musicians who came from there and decided that this was the place I had to be. My formative years were blessed with the sounds of the Arctic Monkeys and the odd lyrics of Pulp, each forming the person I am today. It felt like a sign. I would get to walk in the very same place of those who had shaped me and that sounded like an opportunity that could not be missed. Sheffield is an interesting place with even more interesting people. Unlike London or closer places like Manchester, Sheffield isn't a place that you feel small in. It has a way of pulling you into the lives that are led in a cool place like this–the so-called ‘Steel City’ is many peoples’ kryptonite. Studying abroad for some reason always felt so impossible to me prior, but the process of it all was definitely less daunting and not as scary as I anticipated. I think something that was unexpected was the food. Here it is insanely good, contrary to the popular beliefs about food from within England. In my week in Sheffield I have seen so many interesting and good options in terms of types of food as well. Sheffield is an incredibly diverse place, and the many restaurant options here display that. An easy favorite of mine has been this amazing pizza place found by my mother that I later went to with my boyfriend. It was one of the many places he and I explored while he came up to help me settle in after my parents left. It's a very loveable city. My boyfriend Bailey and I found this out quickly on our walks to dinner and around the area exploring. On the note of Sheffield, as a history student it is an excellent place to be. The location’s history is interesting, and you will be almost certainly overwhelmed with it. The culture in Sheffield is also so unique to itself being a city with mainly a university age demographic with a lot of it feeling catered to the student population, which is so cool. The culture is different as well in terms of where we are located, while Northern England has its many differences that make it noteworthy, Sheffield feels catching in other ways. It is seemingly a dream place for me. I have always yearned for an environment like the one Sheffield provides me as it makes me feel as if my favorite Fall playlist has come to life every single time I leave my flat to walk around the gorgeous city. I have never been one for picture-taking, always seeing it as a tedious task and loving the idea of living in the moment, one could say, but Sheffield pulls me in the direction of wanting to capture its unique beauty. It feels unmatched. Having not done much besides unpacking and wandering, there is not too much to ‘write home about,’ but I will say that I have absolutely no regrets about my decision to come to Sheffield. Unlike somewhere like London, and I know that the experiences that will be provided in this city will feel so incredibly unique and I cannot wait to see what parts of myself will develop and what things will change for the better because of my choice to study abroad for a year at the University of Sheffield. No matter how scary it could feel at times being basically alone in a new country, I still would not take back my decision to do this. Sheffield feels like me, and I could not ask for much else in a destination.September 2025
Blog #2
I feel like I have officially settled in at the University of Sheffield, now having been here for a little short of two months. I haven’t really done much besides the favorite pastime of many young university students; going out and eating. I have gotten comfortable in Sheffield; it is a city that makes that easy. I only have classes twice a week, I try to fit other activities into every other day so that I am not busy but the courseload here is heavy. I do not say that to scare anyone out of a fun time abroad but do prepare for the work you will have to do. It is a lot different in a way than you may have at UNM, as I find the scheduling here so unique, and it can be a lot to adjust to. For many of the courses here, you will not have any assignments during the semester, but an exam, presentation, or an essay at the very end, with your only assignments really being to show up and do the readings during the semester. It makes it almost harder for me, it is something I am not used to at all, my only grade being reliant on one big assignment; so, you really need to take good notes and save all of your supplemental readings to revisit when the time comes for the project that your grade will rely on. I have found myself preferring the structure; it puts pressure on you, sure, but I feel like it fosters a certain type of productivity that you must maintain in order to succeed here in your semester or year abroad. I feel like I will have gotten the hang of this all next term, or I hope so! I do feel like, especially in my modules, the classes are decently niche so I find that the lecturers are closer with the students and you can really get a seminar-type learning experience where everyone talks about the readings and what is going on at this point in what we learn. I find this nice, I feel like in the smaller settings and being able to frame my classes as conversations with my peers and my professors has made it easier for me to absorb the information I am learning. Nothing much has happened lately, I am hoping that since I am more settled in, I will be able to do more around the city and country, but even the mundane things become more exciting when you are abroad. October 2025
