# My First Week as an International Student in the UK: Part 1

The United Kingdom is one of the best places for higher education. The value of a degree is very high compared to other countries. That is why many people are interested in getting their Higher Education degree from the United Kingdom. A total of 486,868 student visas with dependents were granted in the UK before June 2022, as per [universitiesuk.ac.uk](http://universitiesuk.ac.uk) (2022). The number reveals how interested students are.

It is interesting to note that I am not one of them since I obtained my visa after June 2022. I arrived in England on the 6th of October 2022. In October 2022, I completed my physical enrolment at the university with my elder sister. I collected my BRP from the getaway as well as my student ID card.

Source: [studying-in-uk.org](https://www.studying-in-uk.org/international-student-statistics-in-uk/)

Since I have already completed my pre-sessional course, I have access to my student email and understand how to use Microsoft Teams. Therefore, I know when my class will start and where I need to go to attend it. The funny thing is, I don’t know where the classroom is (A2), so I asked reception and they gave me directions, but when I got there, I realized I wasn’t following them. Afterwards, I found a Bangladeshi group. After talking with them for a while, I know that I had forgotten about my class and that’s how I **missed my first class.**

The 11th of October was my second day at my university but I attempted to go to my university alone for the first time. To get to Epsom, I had to change trains twice, one at Grays to West Hum and the other at Waterloo (West Hum to Waterloo). Unfortunately, I missed my first train from Grays, which caused me to miss my South Western Railway train at Waterloo, which caused me to miss my second day as well. When I arrived at my university, I already knew I would miss class, which is why I went to the library with my 16–25 railway card application form and got my photo attested by the library staff. As a result of this, I applied for my bank letter, returned to Epsom station and received my railway card. From Waterloo station, I purchased my Oyster card and connected it to my railway card for a student discount of 1/3. I returned my sister home without attending my second-day class.

My third day (12. Oct. 2022) was the most embarrassing and funny day of my life. I went to the university at the right time and found someone from my same course. But suddenly the embarrassing incident happened. I dropped water from my water bottle into my pants. 🙄

> ***Resources:*** *\*gent (2021) International Student Statistics in UK 2022. At:* [*studying-in-uk.org/international-student-st..*](https://www.studying-in-uk.org/international-student-statistics-in-uk/) *(Accessed 04/11/2022).*

**this article will continue in part 2.**

*Originally published at* [*https://shayaike-1667566634021.hashnode.dev*](https://shayaike-1667566634021.hashnode.dev/my-first-week-as-an-international-student-in-uk-part-1)*.*