The now 38-year-old, from Santa Cruz, moved to the Gower, South Wales, to study abroad for a year in 2007 as part of her degree in International Business at San Francisco State University.
With its proximity to the coastline, plentiful hiking trails and the fun student community, the Welsh university was more appealing to Jessamine than other higher education settings in Sweden, Ghana and London – offering Jessamine everything she was looking for in an international experience.
Living and studying in Wales was very affordable for Jessamine – with the cost of university matching rates at San Francisco State.
And although the education system was slightly different in the way that modules were assessed and lectures were delivered, Jessamine was able to easily transfer her modules back to the United States once her one-year study abroad experience had come to an end.
Since leaving Swansea University in 2008 and returning home, Jessamine has found work as a Technical Business Developer at Twitch, building data centres globally and putting the skills from her degree to good use.
For Jessamine, Wales remains a stunning destination filled with history, fantastic communities and opportunities for adventure – and studying in Wales and forming lifelong friendships abroad remains one of the most incredible experiences she has ever had.
13 years later, I still rave about it. It was the most incredible experience and I made lifelong friends there in just a year. I felt like it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to study at another university and live with British people. There were lots of people guiding me and I was able to go to workshops. There were lots of dedicated people around to support studying abroad choices.
