When I decided to study in Edinburgh, Scotland during my junior year of college, it was an easy decision. I had been the year before with my sister, and though we bickered the entire time, I still enjoyed it. It was incredible to experience how kind everyone was, and I was blown away by how accessible the natural landscapes were. The only difficult decision was choosing the program and institution I wanted to study at. Since I was coming from Spelman College, I felt academically prepared to attend a larger institution and wanted to be challenged. This ultimately led me to enroll at the University of Edinburgh.
There were a few challenges ahead of me, and though I managed to tackle them (+1 to Alexis), it wasn’t easy, and I had to think critically about how I wanted to navigate them. The main challenges were understanding how my identity was perceived in the UK, transitioning from a small HBCU to a large PWI, and understanding the differences in expectations as a Black woman.
IDENTITY IS IMPORTANT:
As you can imagine, identity was a huge shocker for me! Many people knew I was American as soon as I spoke but explaining my relationship within the African diaspora was very nuanced and trying at times if I’m being honest. Since Black British folks have a different relationship to the UK than African Americans to the US, I had to bridge the gap of communicating how I am deeply settled in my American identity & Black identity.I believe that honest dialogue can bring about deeper understanding so I tried to respond with clarity and cultural understanding.The hardest part however, is that sometimes people just won’t get it (and that’s okay!). Despite mild discomfort at times, I see the value in learning to have those conversations and it made me more effective at bridging cultural gaps. Largely, it also helped me learn how other Black people in the diaspora navigate race in countries where their families have chosen to settle.
HBCU vs PWI:
The next challenge that spanned my entire tenure in the UK was the shift from attending a Historically Black women’s college to being the only Black person in all of my classes. Walking into my Print culture in the Victorian Era class was definitely shocking to say the least. It didn’t help that I didn’t get to attend the first class due to registration issues! Despite the hassle that registration caused, it was the least of my issues academically. What was a hassle however, was the learning environment. For starters, Spelman is very hands-on and nurturing to the academic and professional development of Black women so to lose that support for the semester was something I had to adjust to… especially considering that most of my classes abroad only had three assignments. I had to worry about doing well with limited practice on assignments and unknown expectations from lecturers. I finished the semester with one A, one B and the dreaded C+ (but I passed!). I fought very hard for that C and yes I still hate that lecturer til this day. Even with these grades being my lowest performance academically, I was proud of stepping out of my comfort zone and those courses were higher level classes so I was enriched in so many ways.I am deeply grateful however for receiving that support at Spelman because it made advocating for myself a lot easier and allowed me to show up authentically.
Outside of the differences in academic support, going from a women’s college to a co-ed institution is something many people don’t discuss. Many people were confused about how Spelman is able to exist as an institution, and for me, I was confused about why men took up so much space in the class. Thankfully, I don’t care to appease British asshats, so I continued on in my own world, but I definitely noticed how gendered the class presence felt in contrast to my experience at Spelman. These differences in demographics also meant that the conversations often felt lacking in the nuance that I was used to at Spelman. It felt like people were afraid to push toward actually productive conversation and instead relied on reductive points that lacked substance in challenging the status quo. I will say that this could just be the state of higher education and that maybe I was just very spoiled by Spelman, but I noticed this difference nonetheless.
Challenges are fun!
I had many challenges, but I had so much fun too! I explored different cities such as Glasgow, St Andrews, the Isle of Skye, and ventured to the Highlands several times. I got to meet Holly Black (one of my favorite authors!), see Florence + the Machine and BeyoncĂ© in concert, and meet so many incredible people who I know will go out and change the world. I wouldn’t change my experience for anything. For any Black girls reading—just go! You will experience challenges… twas is life, but you will also come back with a sense of curiosity about the world and memories that remind you the world is beautiful. It’s been years since my study abroad journey in Scotland, and I still think fondly of it and will continue to travel back.
Anyways.. hopefully Scotland goes on your travel list! Stay tuned for my itinerary on what you should do in Scotland and stay Whimsy!
-Love Bri
