Tamara Leslie, 20, was one week into her biomedical science undergraduate degree at the University of Sussex when she began looking for a cheaper way to gain her qualification, and do it in less time, too.
Her initial pre-medical degree at Sussex would have taken three years, followed by another five years studying medicine.
She catches Anguilla’s sunsets as often as possible (Photo: Supplied)Leslie, whose father is geriatrician at an NHS hospital in East Sussex, lived between Papua New Guinea and the UK as a child, and spent the last three years living in Eastbourne.
While her parents were happy to help pay for her education, she became determined to find a way to qualify more quickly.
Tamara Leslie’s course is recognised by the GMC and she will be qualified to work in the UK (Photo: Supplied)
Leslie said she now has a dramatically different quality of life. Outside her lectures, from 8am to 3pm, she spends her spare time at the beach. The island has a population of only 15,000, so “every beach is like a private beach”, she said.
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Her living arrangements are cheaper, too. In Sussex the cheapest room she could find was £492 a month. In Aguilla she pays $500 (£372) a month to live in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. “My room is huge,” she said. “My bed is king size. In Sussex, I’d be in a tiny, squeezed place.”
The change of pace has also changed her outlook on working in the NHS like her father. “If I were to go back to work in the NHS now, it would be quite overwhelming,” she said. “When you’re short-staffed, you’re doing the work of up to five people. It’s not fair when you’re getting paid to only do the work of one person.
Lunch at Jelly BBQ is a 30-second walk (Photo: Supplied)The one downside is the high cost of living. Her first food shop cost around $100 (£74) for just 15 items, and she paid $90 (£66) in shipping costs when she ordered some items online.
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When it came time to buying a car — there is not much public transportation on the island – the cheapest used car she could find was $3,500 (£2,600). “But it was more financially smart to buy a car than getting a taxi everywhere or renting a car,” she said.
And she has not failed to make friends, either. “Anguillans are so kind and outgoing,” she said. “If people see you aren’t from here, they are curious about you. I’ve met people at church, walking to the store, and even getting gas for my car. It’s common courtesy for everyone to say ‘good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’ so I’m always interacting with new people.”
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