UQ Program: Bachelor of Regional and Town Planning
My name is Jacob Curtis and I spent the last semester of my Bachelor of Regional and Town Planning abroad in Sheffield, England. I lived in self catered accommodation with ten other abroad/erasmus students, only two of us with English as a first language. We were all very close by the end of semester and we hosted some rip-roaring parties – by the end of semester our house was quite famous.
It was quite an emotional journey, and I felt like a different person after returning home. I made good friends from many countries across Europe and Asia and it’s given me a reason to want to expand my goals for travelling in the future.
The University of Sheffield is a fantastic academic establishment, and I completed two double weighted subjects; an Action Planning Report and “Critical Perspectives on Planning Practices.” I feel I learned a lot from these two subjects as we often had class discussions and guest speakers from across Europe and the UK. The uni also has an impressive collective of student clubs and there’s literally something for everyone.
My hot tips for visiting Sheffield: 1. Find the store Freshman’s for English vintage threads. 2. Check out New Roots on Glossop Road, a vegetarian grocery store which is a great place to volunteer or shop if you want to meet some cool locals. 3. The West End and The Harley are some of the better local bars, but Bar One is probably the cheapest 4. Bookmark the Megabus and National Express websites, and do lots of travelling! 5. Make the most of your time in Sheff, take advantage of the give it a go sessions in many things including language classes, and don’t spend all your time hanging out with Aussies and Poms! Finally my biggest tip of all: stay for a full year if you can, you’ll really regret leaving this great little city.