My first day in Lancaster was my first day in the UK. I remember everything about it, from the cloudy weather to the colour of the seats on the bus that picked the new students up from the airport. And the certainty with which I knew that this was a good place to be.

Of course, throughout my time here, I made some of the best friends I’ll ever have, studied one of the most unique postgraduate degrees available at that time in the UK and benefited from a work placement which eventually shaped my career. But all this came later. All I had during my first few days in Lancaster was a very strong feeling that this new place, where I had only just arrived, had already managed to make me feel safe and welcome. This was not due to one major event, but rather to a multitude of little things: how green the grass could be, how different the world looked from the top floor of a double decker bus, how quickly time passed when sharing stories with my flatmates around the kitchen table, how approachable everyone was and just how everything turned out to be so much easier than I thought. It took very little time for Lancaster (and, by extension, the whole of the UK) to turn from “a place where I would like to study” into “home”. This was where I belonged, why would I ever leave? So I stayed.

I am now in a role that I had not considered when I started my degree, but I could not see myself doing anything else. My job is to assist overseas students who want to come and study in the UK. It is an opportunity for me to offer someone else the chance of having the experience I had. I cannot imagine something more rewarding.

Since I graduated, I have taken advantage of every occasion to come back to Lancaster. I have been a part of the Mentoring and the Directions programmes organized by the Careers Office with the goal of making current students more aware of the career paths open to them. I have also participated in the Alumni Careers Fair whenever I could, because I want to support every initiative of making the student experience at Lancaster an even better one. And also because I want to say thank you. For all the opportunities Lancaster gave me and for somehow making it possible that, after all these years, every time I come back to the university it still feels like coming home.