Joshua Isleta
Ask me what I thought about coming to Glasgow and I’ll talk to you all about the weather. Coming from a country where we only have two seasons (hot and hotter), I often joked about how I wasn’t ready to leave the Philippines for Scotland’s climate. Single-digit and (sometimes) negative temperatures? Four seasons in one day? Only two weeks of "real” summer? It sounded daunting at the time!
But the excitement of exploring a new city, specializing in a subject I loved, and meeting people from across the globe outweighed all these worries. Coming to Glasgow was the opportunity of a lifetime, and it meant the world to me to represent my country as an international student in Political Communication here. My goals for myself were pretty simple: explore as much as I could, embrace every bit of learning, build new friendships, and bring a little of the Philippines with me everywhere I go.
The first Ceilidh at the University the day after I arrived gave me a glimpse of what was to come. It was a rich experience to learn about Scottish culture (and then “try” to dance it) with new friends from Pakistan, Taiwan, and Indonesia. I realized here just how full of opportunities my entire time in Scotland would be, and I was determined to make the most of this journey and to live in the moment—enjoying all that Glasgow had to offer.
A semester and a half later, Glasgow is beginning to feel like a second home. In my adventures around the city, I’ve found what I think is the best chippy and also eaten more Chicken Tikka than I can count. I’ve met some of the nicest and most interesting people from all around the world—my course is composed of students from nine different countries! My subject learnings have given me a new appreciation for how communication is applied to local and international platforms in the context of my home, which I’ve also been able to take with me into many of these interactions. One favorite memory related to this is bringing fried saba (sweet banana) to an international potluck with some of my postgraduate friends. We all brought a dish from our home country, so dinner ended up being a cool selection of dishes from Mexico, Canada, the Netherlands, Iceland, Germany, and the Philippines. It’s this welcoming atmosphere and melting pot of a community that has made my transition to Glasgow so smooth.
I still miss the warmth of the sun and the Filipino people back home (I’m grateful for the couple of minutes each week that the sun shines on Hillhead, as the picture shows), and I don’t think anything can replace that. But the warmth I’ve found in Glasgow—a warmth made through this newfound, diverse community at the University—that warmth has a special place in my heart. With six months to go in the school year, I can’t help but look forward with excitement for all that’s to come!