I decided to apply to Loughborough because my older brother went here and he really enjoyed it. I wanted to try something new at university, and I was attracted by the fact that all the Business School courses had a placement year or a study abroad option.

I’d always been curious about studying abroad, but I applied to some industrial placements at first. However, after I went to the study abroad fair and spoke to people at the different stands, I had the realisation that I was a lot more excited about the prospect of studying abroad than taking a placement year.

I was interested in going to Japan because I’d always thought it looked really cool. I’d watched YouTube videos and travel vlogs, and at the fair I spoke to someone who’d studied there for a whole year. He spoke with such enthusiasm, it really cemented it as one of my choices.