Never Stop Dreaming
Moving from the city of Boston to St Andrews, a town with a population of just over 17,000, was certainly a shock.
Arriving in Fife in January around 3 p.m., the sun had already begun to set. By the time I had wheeled my bag into my dorm, the light had fully disappeared from the sky.
Everyone warned me about the rain in the UK, so the biggest surprise was the daylight. I had assumed Scotland’s daylight cycle would be the same as Boston’s. But after living there for five months I can say they’re nothing alike. Throughout the first week in St Andrews, it took some getting used to the fact that by the 6 p.m. dining hall dinner bell, the sun would be long gone. I would enter my 2:30 p.m. divinity lecture with the sun on the horizon and leave an hour later in darkness. Most of the baby stages of learning my new home were done in the moonlight.
But just as I began to accept the walks across the Old Course to the driving range would be done under the beautiful night sky, the sun started to stay up longer, turning stargazing walks into sunset strolls.
It was difficult adjusting to a new country seemingly full of darkness and never ending rain. If I had class when it wasn’t raining it felt like I might only miss the only sun I’d see for the week. However, by the end of the semester, the sun was setting at 9 p.m. over the Old Course as I watched from Rusacks Hotel, after two amazing rounds of golf, played late under the evening sun.
As February rolled around, the town began to liven up. The longer days meant more time to be outside and enjoy the fair weather. By this time,I had met friends in my residence hall, St Salvators, and we had begun to take full advantage of the blossoming Scottish spring. The walks into town to grab a morning coffee from Pret were stunning, watching the tide roll over West Sands beach.
What had at first felt like endless nighttime became countless hours spent exploring the newly lit up town. I would head to class in the mornings and rush home to grab my golf clubs so I could meet friends on the links and get the most out of our new Links Ticket Holder memberships. If hours of golfing weren’t enough to satiate our social desires, we’d gather at our new favorite spot Whey Pat Tavern and play darts and chat until closing.
The quaint nature of the town made it easy to almost feel like a local in St Andrews. As a byproduct of routine, I ended up seeing the same starter on the golf course, the same barista at Pret, or the same bus drivers on the shuttles to Leuchars. Before I knew it, I was on a first name basis with the grounds crew on the Old Course, with frequent chats about their family and how a big rain threw a wrench in their weekend travel plans. Cliche as it is, St Andrews became my home so fast I can hardly remember the time when it wasn’t.
If I could give some advice to someone looking ahead to their time in Scotland it would be to welcome and appreciate all the changes the weather and daylight will bring you throughout your semester. Embrace the colder winter nights where you can stargaze at nearly any time of day. Cherish the warmth that comes with February and March, opening the door for hundreds of university clubs to start up. And remember those cold winter nights of January in April, when and your new friends are enjoying a night on the town in shorts. What feels foreign and gloomy will soon become a place you never stop dreaming of returning to.
Henry Burns, a student at Tuffs University in Somerville, Massachusetts, studied abroad on the University of St Andrews Partnership program in Scotland in Spring 2024.