Stefanie Elsa graduated with a First Class degree in History and Politics from the University of Stirling in 2020. In this blog, Stefanie, who is from Switzerland, talks about why she chose to study at Stirling, what she gained from her degree, and what she plans to do next.
Why Stirling?
Especially as an international student, it can be challenging to pick the University from home. However, because I already completed a language course of three months in Edinburgh before starting my degree, I was a bit more familiar with the area. Therefore, it was clear I wanted to go back and do my undergraduate at a Scottish University. Why did I pick Stirling specifically though? Well, the campus is stunning. As a nature-lover, it was the perfect combination of having a place to study, but also being able to unwind during a walk around the loch. Especially in the first year, I often went for walks after studying. After that, I moved to the city, where I found other spots to explore Stirling. Also, because I previously lived in Edinburgh, it was close enough to visit my host parents there once in a while as it takes only 50mins by train. I was motivated to study at Stirling University because my choice of programme was History and the city accumulates several important historical sites and also events.
History and Politics
In September 2016, I embarked on my journey from Switzerland to Scotland to study the subject of my dreams: History. In the first semester, I chose Scottish History because I wanted to learn more about the country I chose as my ‘home away from home’ for four years. In the first two years of University, I was offered to study other subjects alongside my core modules. That is why my transcript also states that I completed one module in Journalism and two semesters in Spanish. Stirling University is a flexible place to study because I decided to continue with a joint degree in History and Politics. Those two subjects are intertwined and completed each other. While I got a foundation for both topics, from my third year on, I started to choose freely amongst various history and politics modules. I feel like students are privileged to pick modules in their area of interest at the University of Stirling.
Studying abroad
One of the highlights in my undergraduate studies was the opportunity to study abroad. With History and Politics, the students have numerous choices anywhere in the world. I chose to study for one semester in Hong Kong. I must admit, it was a cultural shock in the beginning but once I stopped getting lost all the time I enjoyed it and made lots of new friends. The modules in Hong Kong were heavily influenced by Asian History. Living there and studying History from a different perspective changed how I looked at the world (in a positive way).
Fourth Year
Upon my return to Stirling, a few new modules were added to the programme, which was exciting. Therefore, in my fourth year, I studied about Nationalism and the end of the Great Continental Empires (Russian, Ottoman and Habsburg) and was the Module Representative for it. Being a Module Representative is a valuable experience. My fellow students were able to contact me to review the course, and I anonymously worked as a mediator between students and professor. The professors are very supportive, and their door is always open for students who want to chat about the course or get some input for a pending assignment.
What’s Next?
Stirling University provided me with the foundation to continue to learn. Not only, did I have a variety of modules to choose from and further my interest, I also had great professors that helped throughout University. Especially for History students, it is ‘the’ place to study because Stirling as a city has historical importance. But the modules offered cover topics also beyond Scottish History. In my last year, I also got to take a course about Medieval Archaeology. This course focused on the Roman Empire, but also explained the implications and its use in the present for the mobilisation of Brexit. Both my History and Politics degree have given me the foundation to pursue a master’s degree. On top of that, I made life-long friends and got to live in Hong Kong for a few months. For these reasons studying in Stirling was a life-enriching experience.
Reprinted with kind permission from Stefanie Elsa. All photographs courtesy of Stefanie. 17 August 2020