Charlotte Marshall - Summer in Minnesota

The most life changing experience, I'll never forget Duluth and the friends I made there!

Memorable Moments

Glensheen mansion was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Duluth, sitting by Lake Superior, enjoying the concerts on the pier, or getting to walk through and see the history of the mansion, every visit was incredible!

Another highlight was canoeing down Namekagon river, it was so tranquil and beautiful and we all got out and swam around the river before heading further down the river together, it was amazing!

The Culture

The culture in America was so similar but different to home, during our classes we would all talk about where we grew up and it made everyone seem so alike although we lived in such different places.

The food was definitely a change, however as a foodie I loved it, I loved the canteen but also going out for food to try all the different American dishes we could!

I also loved the 'college' experience, it was so different to university here and I loved being able to be a part of it!

Challenges

One of the main challenges is the language/ accent barrier, many people on the trip were still learning English which made a small language barrier but we always figured it out in the end. My accent however, made it so difficult for Americans and others to understand me, I had to really push my (Belfast) accent away and speak very clearly to ensure everyone understood me, as many times on the trip I was called the wrong name because people could not understand my accent! I thought it was always very funny when people would try to copy my accent to speak like me!

Making Friends

I love meeting new people so I was so excited to meet everyone. Everyone in our group was so kind and easy to talk to we all became friends very quickly. The tutors in the university also showed us different places we could go to spend time together and get to know everyone better which really helped making friends quickly!

Did you travel to other places?

We travelled to lots of places over the time we spent in Minnesota, we travelled around Duluth itself to see the bridge in downtown, went across to Wisconsin to go canoeing, travelled up to Grand Marais towards the Canadian border to see the edge of Lake Superior and went down to Minneapolis to the Mall of America. We saw so many towns and sites it was incredible for such a short amount of time and every place we went was so beautiful and fun!

Top things to do?

I tried to do as much as possible while I was in America, we took buses to the beach, cinema, coffee shops and stores. We went to a concert at the pier which was one of my favourite things that we did. I love music and the beach was so beautiful.

We took a bus down to the Mall of America and got to do some shopping together and it was so much fun, there was a theme park in the Mall and so many shops and restaurants, it was like nothing I had ever seen before!

Advice to others

Definitely apply! This experience was the most incredible thing I have done in my life. The people I met will be my friends for life and I cannot express how much they mean to me. It may seem nerve wracking now but once you're on the flight, the excitement is like nothing else!