Experience report
Name: Dennie Michielsen
E-mail: denniemichielsen@hotmail.com
Exchange semester: Spring
Academic year: 3
Host University: University of Sheffield
Country: United Kingdom
My arrival in Sheffield was organized really well. I could only not access my University
accommodation straight away. I had to stay in a hostel for a few days but that wasn’t too bad. We
then had an introduction of three days at uni which were really helpful. We could access our
accommodation on the last day of the introduction, it looked really good. It is quite expensive, but the
room is quite decent. I had a room with own bathroom, next to that a shared kitchen and living room
with six others. The accommodation had to be booked in advance, about 2-3 months before actually
leaving to Sheffield.
Sheffield is a student city in the middle of the United Kingdom. It is really close to other cities like
Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester, etc. Especially if you are a fan of English football, perfect location.
The university is located throughout the city but mostly located in city centre which is really nice. The
uni buildings look amazing. The best place to go to eat is the Students’ Union, where there are
several locations to get food or a coffee. Sheffield has it’s own sports centre which is located between
the uni accommodation and the university itself. Interesting things to see in Sheffield are of course the
football clubs Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. Next to that the several parks are really chill
to hang out in. Tilburg is way grimmer compared to Sheffield. Sheffield has old buildings while the
buildings in Tilburg can be quite grim. The university campus is spread throughout the city, which is
not the case in Tilburg. The Students’ Union really is something we don’t have in Tilburg, which is
quite a shame.
In Sheffield I took three courses to replace mine in Tilburg. Advanced Issues in International Law,
International Legal Theory and Crime Prevention and Victimisation. I chose these courses as an
addition to my study of International Law. These courses gave me a deeper and other perspective to
law, especially the Crime Prevention course. The workload in Sheffield is definitely lower than in
Tilburg. The lectures and seminars are high quality, I had some interesting professors. There are not
much contact hours and readings are up to you to do. Seminars do require a fair amount of work. The
level of English is high but good to follow. As an international student, there should be no problem in
following the courses. I was not fully happy with one of my results, because it turned out to be a fail,
something I couldn’t understand. For the rest, I was fairly happy with my results.
There were so many activities organized by the university. Almost every single night, there was a
party or activity at the Students’ Union. Next to that, in the beginning there were a lot of activities in
order for you to get to know more people that were on exchange. I did have some contact with local
students in my courses and next to that I had a mentor, which was really helpful. We were situated in
our accommodation with basically only exchange students which made it like living in a big family.
During my stay in Sheffield I had 3 weeks off in April so I went to Glasgow and Dublin with some
friends.
I financed my exchange period through my own funds, savings and a loan from the government. I
can’t really compare the living expenses because I still live at home. I would say everything is about
the same price, the accommodation was pretty expensive though. I definitely spent the most money
on that. I didn’t really keep budget in Sheffield, we just did shopping with a small group of people and
shared the costs. A good thing is, is that I personally only needed 1 textbook. Most of the materials
were provided online.
I didn’t really experience a big culture shock in the United Kingdom, other than people driving on the
left side of the road. The culture in Sheffield was pretty laid back to be honest. People are very kind
and helpful. I expected it to be less like that and was expecting more of a chaotic situation like you
would have in London.
I had some personal reasons to go on exchange and it definitely helped me out in that way. It is a
once in a life time change and I am really happy that I took this opportunity. My best experience is just
that I got to know people from all over the world, still talking to them and some even staying over in
the Netherlands. I don’t really have a bad experience from exchange to be honest. The most
important thing I learned in Sheffield is to have more self-esteem. People are not as bad as you think
they are.
For future students, I will definitely recommend an exchange period. Just the communication in
Tilburg can be pretty bad and chaotic, something I experienced a lot unfortunately. Sheffield is
definitely a place I would recommend to anyone wanting to go on exchange. If you go, don’t overpack
because there are always shops where you can get stuff for cheap. Afterwards, there are loads of
charities which are very pleased with you handing in stuff. Preparation is key for your exchange. Make
sure you have all your documents ready and that you have taken care of everything regarding your
allowance from the government.