[intro music]
[Nami] Usually, for summer programmes that I attend, it's either super academically rigorous or not enough. And I feel like St Andrews fits right in between. And so I was able to enjoy my time in Scotland, but also be able to learn so many new things I didn't know before.
[Liam] It's really opened my eyes on how undergraduate work has been. And the difference in cultures really opens up how uni will be. It has just been, like, one of the best experiences of my life.
[Macie] I really enjoyed the variety of lectures we had. We had some that were more focused on cinematography, some that were more focused on, like, the philosophical side of cinema. As well as our last two days, we had a film critic and a director come, and that was really enjoyable.
[Ifeoma] I've learned that I like actually other things, like anthropology or literature. We had children's literature. And that was so interesting.
[Rami] I studied management, and our final project was to do a Dragon's Den or Shark Tank pitch. We kind of developed a company based off, like, a healthy energy drink, and we were able to present it in front of the RAs (Residential Assistants), it was a really good experience to kind of understand the in and outs of a business.
[Ifeoma] To be in university, to experience it before going really to university too. It's nice. I know now I fell in love with this university
[Macie] I've never been to Scotland or the UK, so I really enjoyed my time here. Getting to know the landscape, try different Scottish foods. I also really enjoyed our trips to Glasgow and Edinburgh. I enjoyed going to the National Gallery of Scotland. We did a hike yesterday and we went to like a really cute coastal town and we saw Highland cows, which were adorable.
[Eva] Outside of class, I can say maybe the most basic which is walking around the town. The town is very beautiful, the climate was very nice.
[Ifeoma] Oh yeah. The surfing activity was fun. It was fun because the weather was amazing. But also, I like going to the beach and, just hanging out there
[Nami] I especially enjoyed the ping pong tournament. It was just so fun to see how hyped up everyone was and supporting their friends or supporting people they hadn't even talked to.
[Liam] I've really enjoyed like for debate, like for example, I really do like the research. That's why I want to be a research scientist.
[Mateo] Honestly, the architecture of the building. It was so beautiful that it doesn't look real. It sort of felt so liminal.
[Rami] I really enjoyed looking at all the buildings and seeing, kind of, a lot of different architecture. It's really interesting to see how a lot of these older towns have developed.
[Mateo] It was like a world of Harry Potter. I really love it.
[Rami] Coming here I was a little uncertain what it was gonna be like to make new friends. Were people going to come here with friends? That was one thing I actually really enjoyed, was meeting everybody, introducing myself, finding out where people were from and finding out their experiences, and kind of building a community of them.
[Liam] I found it really enlightening. It's allowed me to look at different cultures, see how everyone else finds academic pursuit.
[Nami] After all the activities we had in the day, even if everyone was a little bit tired, we would all gather in the common room. People would play ping pong, we would play pool, it was kind of a space where people didn't really look at their phones, and we really got to know each other and I think also realize how international this summer program is.
[Macie] There's so many different people from so many different places in the world that have such a variety of interests. And you'll definitely find people. They do a really good job at the beginning of the program. You have like a WhatsApp group chat and stuff like that.
[Nami] Coming here, you realize that the world is so small. I know that I found mutuals with people that I would never expect. And this camp does such a great job at trying to bond people together and get to know people. So you'll definitely leave knowing at least everyone or seeing each other's faces and knowing each other's names.
[Can you sum up the SAEC in five words?]
[Macie]I would say immersive
[Ifeoma] Enriching
[Liam] Community
[Eva] Exciting, definitely
[Ifeoma] Adventurous
[Nami] Transformative experience that's incredibly memorable.
[Mateo] Peaceful.
[Macie] beautiful
[Eva] Diverse
[Rami] Friendships that will last forever.
[Macie] and... apply!