3 great things about being an International Student Ambassador

Today is my penultimate office hour here at the UEA International Office, and I'm already starting to feel all the feels. Therefore, I felt it was only appropriate to honour the amazing time I've had here by listing the highlights of my time as an International Student Ambassador. Hopefully this will also work to explain what it really is that we do!

• Meeting people from all over the world

Some of my best friends are people I met through working in the International Office. One of my favourite things about it is that whenever we have a social, you can chat to people from literally any corner of the world: from Norway to Japan, from the US to Malaysia, from the UK to Mexico... The IO brings together a lovely mixture of cultures and that's what makes it so worthwhile!

• Skills!

As with any kind of job, I have developed an awesome skillset that ranges from managing social media (my favourite kind of skills!), to translation, to communication! Things that were once daunting, like delivering campus tours, have almost become second nature, and rising up to these challenges only increases one's self-confidence. Learning to write proper emails or speaking clearly during phone calls in a foreign language has also been immensely helpful.

• Learning more about UEA

When I first became an International Student Ambassador almost 3 years ago (!), I had only been at UEA for a month. And while I already knew quite a bit (big thanks to my exhaustive researching tendencies on the website), producing relevant content to post on Facebook or the blog requires even more intensive research, weekly. This means that at any given moment I basically know everything that's going on at UEA. Well, not quite ;) But it has helped me find out about many great events that would have otherwise slipped under the radar, or discover new things about UEA such as the research it's constantly putting out or offers at the Sportspark, as well as great tips about life in Norwich.

These are three very simple positives about my time as an International Student Ambassador here. Thanks to everyone who has made it such a great experience!

Esther xx
European Student Ambassador