| Hello, Kira, how are you? |
| Fine thanks, Paul, how are you? |
| Well, thanks. |
| It's good to see you. |
| It must be 12 months since you did our course? |
| That's right. |
| It's nice to come back and say hello. |
| What course did you enroll in? |
| Actually, I went straight into third year Pharmacy. |
| They credited me with two years, which probably made it more difficult for me. |
| On the other hand, you were lucky to be granted credits. |
| Is that why you chose the course? |
| Yes. |
| And, as I'd already finished a course in it in my country. |
| I thought it would be easier if I studied something I already knew. |
| I didn't realise you went into third year. |
| I thought you started in first year. |
| No wonder it was so hard! |
| And what do you think is one of the big differences between studying at a university here and studying in your country? |
| Well, I've found it very difficult to write assignments, |
| because I wasn't familiar with that aspect of the system here. |
| The main problem is that the lecturers expect you to be critical. |
| That made me feel really terrible. |
| I thought "How can I possibly do it?" |
| "How can I comment on someone else's research when they probably spent five years doing it?" |
| I think a lot of people who come from overseas countries have similar problems. |
| But after a while, it became easier for me. |
| People expect you to have problems with the process of reading and writing |
| but, in fact, it is more a question of altering your viewpoint towards academic study. |
| How was the content of the lectures? |
| Was it easy for you? |
| I didn't really have many problems understanding lectures. |
| The content was very similar to what I'd studied before. |
| And what about the lecturers themselves? |
| Are they essentially the same as lecturers in your country? |
| Well, actually, no. |
| Here, they're much easier to approach. |
| After every lecture, you can go and ask them something you didn't understand. |
| Or you can make an appointment and talk to them about anything in the course. |
| Maybe you found them different because you're a more mature student now, |
| whereas when you were studying in your country, you were younger and not so assertive. |
| No, I don't think that's the difference. |
| Most of the students here do it. |
| In my faculty, they all seem to make appointments - |
| usually to talk about something in the course that's worrying them, |
| but sometimes just about something that might really interest them, |
| something they might want to specialise in. |
| The lecturers must set aside certain times every week when they're available for students. |
| That's good to hear. |
| And how was your timetable? |
| Was it a very busy year? |
| Very, very busy. |
| They make you work very hard. |
| Apart from lectures, we had practical sessions in a lot of subjects. |
| We did these in small groups. |
| I had to go and work four hours every week in a community pharmacy. |
| Actually, I enjoyed this very much - meeting new people all the time. |
| Then in second semester, we had to get experience in hospital dispensaries, |
| so every second day we went to one of the big hospitals and worked there. |
| And on top of all that we had our assignments, |
| which took me a lot of time. |
| Oh, I nearly forgot, between first and second semesters, |
| we had to work full-time for two weeks in a hospital. |
| That does sound a very heavy year. |
| So are you pleased now that you did it? |
| Do you feel some sense of achievement? |
| Yeah, I do feel much more confident, |
| which I suppose is the most important thing. |
| And have you got any recommendations for people who are studying from overseas? |
| Well, I suppose they need very good English. |
| It would be much better if they spent more time learning English before they enter the university, |
| because you can be in big trouble if you don't understand what people are saying |
| and you haven't got time to translate. |
| Anything else? |
| Well, as I said before, |
| the biggest problem for me was a lack of familiarity with the education system here. |
| It sounds as if it was a real challenge. |
| Congratulations, Kira. |
| Thanks, Paul. |