THE DOLPHIN Catching up with Old Brutonians 104
Catching up with Old Brutonians: Joe and Georgia, at Universities in North America Joe Walsh and Georgia McDade, from the Class of 2025, returned to King’s having spent their first year at University in North America to give a talk to the Lower Sixth, sharing their experiences and advice when considering similar universities. Having left King’s last year, Joe went on to the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and Georgia went on to Fairfield University, Connecticut. Being on opposite sides of North America, one on the Eastern Seaboard, and the other on the far west of the Canadian coastline, the stories were vast and plenty, giving us an insight into life at international universities. Georgia went on to Fairfield University, having secured a Field Hockey scholarship last year, which is found on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States of America in Connecticut, just north of New York. She started off by talking about Fairfield itself, explaining the campus has a lot to offer, being in a beautiful location off the Long Island Sound where the snow dresses the campus throughout the winter, and the warmer months offer beautiful sunsets and opportunities to go to the beaches.
Similarly, the importance of sport at American universities has meant that many experiences such as Basketball and American Football games have created lasting memories of the university. It is also from these sports that a deep culture and passion is derived, with Georgia sharing an ecstatic moment where what seemed like the underdogs, Fairfield, went on to beat Marist, a strong and hardly beaten team, at Basketball within the last second.
At Fairfield, Georgia also told us about the wide range of Majors and Minors, the courses which you take during your undergraduate degree, that are on offer. Georgia is currently taking classes in Sports Media and Communications, alongside her time playing within her Field Hockey team. With this range of dedications, we got an insight into what this looks like daily, with an example routine pictured. In the USA there is also plenty to do, whether it is the large number of sports events there are, or the historic cities and landmarks there are to visit, it would be hard not to find something to do. Georgia spoke fondly of the times she had gone
to sports events with friends, or her time spent going to meet family down in Washington DC. Away from this, Georgia’s time playing as a part of the Field Hockey team has been very eventful, travelling to all sorts of places to play games against other universities, as well as working with many different teammates from a vast array of international backgrounds themselves, resulting in an unforgettable and immensely enjoyable first season at Fairfield.
Across the border, and the North American continent, Joe has spent his first year at the University of British Columbia, based in Vancouver city. UBC is a very unique university, Joe emphasised, effectively operating as a town, being quartered off on its own peninsula from the rest of Vancouver city, with some trips across the university to get to different places and classes, taking almost half an hour. However, having shown us the view out across the Pacific Rockies from the campus it was clear to us that these walks would almost definitely be worth it. Having these mountains at your doorstep was a huge bonus, Joe made clear, with skiing being abundantly available within