1Hello, Kira, how are you?
2Fine thanks, Paul, how are you?
3Well, thanks.
4It's good to see you.
5It must be 12 months since you did our course?
6That's right.
7It's nice to come back and say hello.
8What course did you enroll in?
9Actually, I went straight into third year Pharmacy.
10They credited me with two years, which probably made it more difficult for me.
11On the other hand, you were lucky to be granted credits.
12Is that why you chose the course?
13Yes.
14And, as I'd already finished a course in it in my country.
15I thought it would be easier if I studied something I already knew.
16I didn't realise you went into third year.
17I thought you started in first year.
18No wonder it was so hard!
19And what do you think is one of the big differences between studying at a university here and studying in your country?
20Well, I've found it very difficult to write assignments,
21because I wasn't familiar with that aspect of the system here.
22The main problem is that the lecturers expect you to be critical.
23That made me feel really terrible.
24I thought "How can I possibly do it?"
25"How can I comment on someone else's research when they probably spent five years doing it?"
26I think a lot of people who come from overseas countries have similar problems.
27But after a while, it became easier for me.
28People expect you to have problems with the process of reading and writing
29but, in fact, it is more a question of altering your viewpoint towards academic study.
30How was the content of the lectures?
31Was it easy for you?
32I didn't really have many problems understanding lectures.
33The content was very similar to what I'd studied before.
34And what about the lecturers themselves?
35Are they essentially the same as lecturers in your country?
36Well, actually, no.
37Here, they're much easier to approach.
38After every lecture, you can go and ask them something you didn't understand.
39Or you can make an appointment and talk to them about anything in the course.
40Maybe you found them different because you're a more mature student now,
41whereas when you were studying in your country, you were younger and not so assertive.
42No, I don't think that's the difference.
43Most of the students here do it.
44In my faculty, they all seem to make appointments -
45usually to talk about something in the course that's worrying them,
46but sometimes just about something that might really interest them,
47something they might want to specialise in.
48The lecturers must set aside certain times every week when they're available for students.
49That's good to hear.
50And how was your timetable?
51Was it a very busy year?
52Very, very busy.
53They make you work very hard.
54Apart from lectures, we had practical sessions in a lot of subjects.
55We did these in small groups.
56I had to go and work four hours every week in a community pharmacy.
57Actually, I enjoyed this very much - meeting new people all the time.
58Then in second semester, we had to get experience in hospital dispensaries,
59so every second day we went to one of the big hospitals and worked there.
60And on top of all that we had our assignments,
61which took me a lot of time.
62Oh, I nearly forgot, between first and second semesters,
63we had to work full-time for two weeks in a hospital.
64That does sound a very heavy year.
65So are you pleased now that you did it?
66Do you feel some sense of achievement?
67Yeah, I do feel much more confident,
68which I suppose is the most important thing.
69And have you got any recommendations for people who are studying from overseas?
70Well, I suppose they need very good English.
71It would be much better if they spent more time learning English before they enter the university,
72because you can be in big trouble if you don't understand what people are saying
73and you haven't got time to translate.
74Anything else?
75Well, as I said before,
76the biggest problem for me was a lack of familiarity with the education system here.
77It sounds as if it was a real challenge.
78Congratulations, Kira.
79Thanks, Paul.