You only have so much time to do whatever you want to do

When Ayo Rahman went to the US on a study exchange with ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ Global in September, she had no idea that within a few months she’d be getting hands-on experience working with state senators in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of her degree.

Ayomide Rahman is a law student at ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ completing a full-year exchange with our partner institution Georgia College and State University (GCSU) through ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ Global, before returning to Leicester to finish her studies. We caught up with her towards the end of a placement she had never expected which has seen her gain vital legal experience as an aide to three senators in the Georgia State Capitol. Find out where Ayo’s has taken her and why she believes you should make the most of every opportunity available while you’re at uni.

Let’s start at the beginning, Ayo. How did you get interested in law and how has being at ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ helped you? 

I've always wanted to do law, to help people who don't have the opportunity to help themselves. Because I'm from a lower-income background and area, growing up I saw different injustices where people didn’t have the best legal help available to them. Sometimes the fear of being a minority overshadows the want of being helped because people assume there’s no one who’s on their side. 

People of my parents’ generation are often the first in their families to be in the country, and don’t fully understand the extent of their rights, so it’s too easy for their rights to be abused. If I have an opportunity to help people in that way, I’d jump at that. To point them to resources, to help them realise they have a say in what’s going on and understand the rights available to them. 

At ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ, the classes have given me a really good understanding of law, but the extracurricular stuff has really helped me to reach my best too. People forget that, yeah, we’re in university, but you need other outlets as well. I believe that if you're able to do stuff outside of the classroom, you're able to succeed more in the classroom as well. 

What’s it like being in the US? 

I grew up in Southeast London - I even found Leicester too quiet when I first came to ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ. I called my cousin on my first night and said ‘this is weird, there are no buses, no people shouting, no car horns.’ But then to move to Milledgeville in Georgia, which is so quiet, and having a deer run across the road on the way from the airport, it was quite a culture shock!

 People are really nice in Georgia, but they’re much more forward socially than they’d be in the UK. For instance, I was in Walmart with my aunt and her baby in a pram, and people would come up and say ‘oh, you’re so cute’ to the baby, or ‘I love your accent’. In the UK we notice stuff with other people but just go about our day, but here they’ll come up and speak to you. 

So, making friends here has been easy – I just had to speak with my different accent and also just be myself, and over here everyone usually wants to talk to somebody who's new.

You’ve moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta – that was quite a surprise, wasn’t it? 

Yeah, it was a bit of an accident how I got here, actually quite a big accident! I came to Georgia to study and became aware of the in Atlanta, which seemed like a great opportunity. But I was a bit anxious it wouldn’t be possible as I’m not a US citizen, especially with the political situation at the moment. 

But my adviser sat me down and told me to apply anyway – like if it’s something you can’t do, you can’t do it, but go in there with an open mind. 

I went to the information session and there were five or six others and I thought it was a bit strange as no one was asking questions, but I had about 50 questions! 

I just remembered what I learnt from the Careers team at ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ about practicing going for an interview, where they teach you to assess the situation, use the STAR method and ask a lot of questions, especially if it's something you're not sure about. 

But now I'm the only person in the room asking questions, so I'm a bit nervous because I'm like, is this a cultural difference? Are we not supposed to ask questions in the States? They said to stay behind if we had any more questions, and everybody left and I was the only person who stayed behind. 

Then, when I did my Teams interview, they said ‘oh yes, we remember you, you’re the person who asked all the questions’, and then I got the placement! I was the only exchange student to get one, and the only one in the whole school to get that particular one. So I think the guidance from the Careers team at ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ really helped me there! It's been a great opportunity and a great experience. 

What have you learned in Atlanta? 

I’ve learned so much here. In school we tend to learn about the federal government in the US. It was a surprise to my friends over here that we learned about other countries, like, she’s not just a clueless Brit, she actually knows what’s going on! I learned a lot about the difference between the federal and state government, how the states here are so much more independent compared to the UK. 

One of my favourite things has been organising press conferences. You get to set it up, make the posters, work out where in the Capitol building it’s going to be. You organise the press, contact them to take the pictures, screen what news people are going to be there. 

Another thing I find fun is being involved with the bills. Seeing what bills are happening before they hit the internet; going to the different senators and telling them that ‘this is the bill from Senator X, Y or Z, would you like to sign this?’ That’s allowed me to build connections with different senators that I wouldn't have had without my job. 

I know it’s going to help my career too. I’ve learnt that so much more goes into a government than you think, like they have people who they answer to, they have corporations that they work with. It gave me a broader outlook on a career that I could see myself in. 

This year has also given me insights in terms of how to help people. For instance, helping constituents who come to the Capitol to voice their opinions, to help them ease their minds and help them practically. 

What would you say to a student who was thinking of studying on exchange with ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ Global? 

So, this is my mentality. You only have so much time to do whatever you want to do, where they're giving you the opportunity, the resources, and the funding essentially to explore. 

You’re going to find yourself in situations that are uncomfortable. You have to make your own friends, your own environment, you have to find your own apartment in an entirely new country. And maybe your luggage gets lost, or your passport, and you find out that it’s not a bed of roses. 

But you’ll find yourself turning an uncomfortable situation into a much more comfortable one, and finding out that you did it on your own. And that sense of independence is a feeling that you're not going to get from anyone else.

Take any opportunities that you possibly can, that’s my mentality. 100 per cent do it because you’re not going to have that opportunity again. 

Inspired by Ayo’s experience? ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ Global offers students the opportunity to study abroad at over 50 partner institutions worldwide, with support and funding available. 

Undergraduate students apply during their second year to spend their third year studying overseas, before returning to ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ for their final year. Students can and find out where their degree could take them. Through ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ Global and host institutions, students are supported before and during their exchange, helping them adapt to new academic systems and cultural environments. 

and how to apply through ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅ Global.