French and European Studies student publishes book about his year abroad

Matthew Hepburn, who spent a year abroad in France in his third year at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), wanted to share his experience with others looking for a similar opportunity.

Matthew Hepburn exploring France

An Erasmus Year Abroad in Besançon is about Matthew’s adventures as an Erasmus student, at the Université de Franche-Comté in Besançon, France.

The final year BA (Hons) French and European Studies student told us: “Basically, I put all my year abroad blog posts into a book. I wanted to have a physical copy of it all in case my blog site ever went down. Also, I thought it would be something good for the NTU library to have, and something unique to add to my CV.

“I hope that anyone who reads my book or blog will experience what daily life was like living in France. It's a real, authentic diary of what was going through my mind whilst abroad. More importantly, I hope it gives reassurance to people going on a year abroad, and provides inspiration through some of the things that I discovered whilst there.”

This certainly seems to be the case already, with people leaving positive feedback on the Amazon website.

Keen to get an insight into the book, we asked Matthew what he enjoyed most about his time abroad. He remarked: “The most enjoyable part of it was simply being abroad. It was just the small things that made it enjoyable. Life was different and interesting, and I learnt new things every day, including new French phrases.

“I loved travelling and exploring the region and towns. My year abroad experience has made me more confident and independent as I had to live out of my comfort zone, and I was able to overcome challenges along the way.”

According to the Gone International: Mobility Works 2017 report, which analyses data from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, graduates who were mobile during their degree were less likely to be unemployed (3.7% compared to 4.9%), and more likely to earn 5% more than their non-mobile peers.