My time in Lyon: managing mid-terms

Now that I am settling in well and starting to get into my studies, I can start to tell you all about my midterm assessments and just exactly what I’ve been learning and what there is to do in this beautiful and interesting city. Since the last time, I wrote a blog many things have happened from educational firsts to many cultural and social experiences.

Since the start of my studies, I have since had 5 lectures in all classes. I have had many lessons concerning law from the EU, America and around the world. The law work here is very interesting and tests you in a variety of ways from group work to help with formulating arguments, to essay exams that allow you to look at a problem and apply the relevant laws and rules concerning that particular area. I have found these skills very useful and feel I can use these skills once I’m back in the UK in my future studies. 

Now that I am settled in, I am finding it easier to adapt to the social aspect of living abroad and learning and understanding the culture around me to a great extent. Around me, as you can imagine is a large variety of fine wines and cheeses which you can get at a very reasonable price at supermarkets and local food markets around the city. As well as this there is a very popular tradition of the spending evening by the river talking making friends and learning about cheese and wine. This tradition is carried out by many people across the city and France as a whole and is a great way to make friends and share experiences.

Alongside this, I have managed to visit several art world history museums that have allowed me to understand Lyons place in the world, with the city being large manufacturer of silk for many generations. Lyon has a history steeped in movies and cinematography and visiting a cinema museum allowed me to get a real perspective of what the Lumiere brothers gave to us all of those years ago.

Now let’s talk about my mid-term exams as this process of examination is very different what I am used to in the UK. During my studies, I have had mainly mock essays to write to gauge exactly where I am in my revision. These essays are a very good way of marking your progress and how you are moving through the module. However, in Lyon, the mid-term assessments very much count towards my final grade and a positive to this is that a good score can help with stress and pressure at the end of the semester. So, mid-terms are mainly worth 50% of my overall grades and take the form of essays and exams. I have finished all of my midterms as of writing this blog and most of the content in these assessments I found refreshing and very interesting, especially learning of American history. 

I am currently on half term and enjoying some well-earned rest I have struggled at the start of my first term at Lyon I won’t lie about that, however, I have taken that and tried my hardest to mould it into something positive. Right now I’m feeling so much better about my placement, I have made some amazing friends from every corner of the world and with every day I am there I am learning more and more about the country I am in and exactly what I can do when I put my mind to a task.

Until my next blog, I hope you all have a great couple whatever you may be doing and I hope you join me on the next instalment of my time in Lyon.