Bethany
Fraser

Strasbourg Summer School

As part of my degree, I had the opportunity to spend my third year studying abroad, however, instead of taking a year out, I decided to sign up to the Strasbourg Summer School as an alternative to getting to study abroad without adding an extra year to my degree.

The summer school involved spending a week in the lovely area of Strasbourg learning about bioethics, health law and human rights law that was taught by two amazing lecturers from the law school. As well as attending these lectures, we got to go visit the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights. In the evenings, we had plenty of time to explore the city and towards the end of the week, we even got the chance to visit Colmar and Kehl in Germany.

My experience on the summer school was amazing! Before arriving we had all set up a group chat of the students attending that allowed us to all meet up at the airport so we could travel together. We all instantly became such good friends and to this day I am still in contact with them. My favourite parts of the trip was getting the freedom in the evenings to explore the city as there was always something new happening, such as a light show that was being projected alongside the Strasbourg Cathedral. Another great part of the trip was visiting the three institutions as they are a key part of what we learn about in our degree, so seeing them in person has given me the motivation to work hard to someday be able to work at a prestigious institution such as these.

I would definitely recommend this summer school to everyone as it is a once in a lifetime experience that would be a shame to miss. I am even planning to go on another summer school myself as I enjoyed it so much. If you are looking to travel abroad, to add more to your CV or are just looking to make some lifelong friends then I would definitely urge you to take this opportunity.