Buses, bothies, and beauty: Erskine seniors study in Scotland

Erskine College seniors Sloan Bradley of Due West, S.C. and William “Will” Moore of Iva, S.C., both set to graduate this month, spent the fall semester of 2025 studying at St. Andrews University, each discovering Scotland in his own way. 

Travel time   

During his study abroad, Will went to a few places in Europe, he says, including Prague, Vienna, and Cologne, but he embraced the beauty of Scotland and enjoyed exploring the country.

“This was my first time abroad,” Will says, “and although I did not exactly know what to expect when I first landed in Scotland and began traveling around, I found that I adapted pretty quickly and was excited to see so many new and amazing sights.” 

Sloan also notched up some new experiences. “My semester in St. Andrews was my first time abroad, and it was even my first time on a plane!” he says.  

“At first, I started trying to make elaborate plans to travel throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, or even North Africa,” Sloan recalls. 

“After traveling in Scotland over the first few weeks in the country and being impressed by the landscape and the people, I decided that I wanted to take advantage of living in Scotland for almost four months and experience the country as much as I could,” he says.

Focusing on Scotland meant bus trips—and a learning curve. 

“The most rewarding moment,” Sloan says, “was absolutely when I realized how the public transportation system worked in Scotland and could confidently say my destination to the bus driver—though I usually pronounced it creatively and sometimes only after I had gotten on the wrong bus.”   

Will also learned to get around the country by bus. “I wanted to make sure that I was making the most out of my traveling in Scotland,” he says. “It was extremely fun to bus around and experience beautiful sights, from the beaches to the highlands.” 

Roughing it 

Sloan’s explorations, in addition to bus travel, included hiking and camping. “Scotland is a fantastic place to hike,” he says. “I had opportunities to go to the highlands and to isolated coastal villages along the west coast.” 

Describing his overnight trips, Sloan says, “If I was not staying in hostels or bunkhouses, I would stay in mountain huts—bothies—along the trails.” 

Camping in the bothies, most of which are primitive shelters, enabled Sloan to “either live by myself for a few days or live with a motley assortment of adventurers in the remote places of Scotland.”  

He never knew which sort of situation he would encounter. Journeying to isolated villages along Scotland’s west coast or traveling to the highlands, he logged a variety of experiences. 

“I spent a quiet night in near-freezing rain in a bothy on a windswept hill with waterlogged firewood,” he says, “and the next night I spent in a warm, insulated bothy with eight other travelers and a fire that blazed deep into the night.” 

One evening, Sloan enjoyed eating steaks cooked over the fire, with an Italian priest and a Scottish friend for company. “These hiking trips around Scotland not only helped me see a side of Scotland that travelers do not always see, but they also provided a way to share the gospel along the trails or in the bothies and bunkhouses of the Scottish wilderness.” 

Kirk reviews 

Sloan and Will agree that finding a “church home” for the semester in St. Andrews greatly enriched their time in Scotland.  

When they first arrived, St. Andrews Free Church was recommended to them. “I am thankful that the Lord put it on our hearts to attend that first Sunday,” Sloan says.  

“After over a week of traveling around a new country and a completely new university experience and atmosphere, church provided a sense of the familiar,” he adds. But it was more than just familiarity. 

Will calls church involvement “the best part of my experience in Scotland” and cites a small group Bible study, a personal Bible study with the associate pastor, various service opportunities, and even a Ceilidh—a traditional Scottish dance event—as memorable church activities. 

“When people ask me about my favorite parts of my semester abroad, I always include hiking and traveling around the wilds of Scotland,” says Sloan, “but church will always fall first on that list.” 

Will agrees. “St. Andrews Free Church surpassed my expectations by a landslide, and I could not have asked for a better family in Christ.”  

Classes and how to take them 

Strong students at Erskine, Will and Sloan are completing multiple majors—Will in history, international studies, and political science, Sloan in biology, history, and international studies. The approach to academics in Scotland caught their attention.

“School in Scotland at the University of St. Andrews was vastly different from school at Erskine,” Sloan asserts. “For example, my medieval history class had seven teachers who alternated teaching over 150 students. Classes were optional and did not take attendance, although weekly tutorials were mandatory.” 

Will describes his St. Andrews schedule. “In my case,” he says, “I had two classes, so I only had two lectures each week, and the rest of my classes were conducted in tutorial groups based on discussions or refinement of skills in the topic area.” 

Sloan says he “thoroughly enjoyed” his semester abroad, but his time away from Due West helped him “realize just how much I appreciated the personal, tighter-knit experiences that Erskine provided.” 

In addition to early medieval history, Sloan took archaeology and Arabic at St. Andrews. He says all three classes “paired well” with his Erskine majors. 

Will took a social anthropology class on the history and culture of the Pacific “and the peoples that call the region home.” He also signed up for Arabic. He found that his classes in Scotland “connected well” with two of his three majors—history and international studies. 

“I took an introductory Arabic class because I have always found a fascination with foreign languages,” Will says, “and I wanted to attempt to learn some basics of a language with no direct or easy ties to English.” 

Sloan enjoyed the same class, and believes its benefits extended beyond the classroom.  

“Learning Arabic was challenging, but Will and I had encouraging professors and fellow students we enjoyed getting to know and study Arabic with,” he says.  

“One of our close friends from our university hall was also in the class, so I credit Arabic with helping us build friendships with him and other students.” 

Time for surfing, time to adjust

With what Will calls a “vast number” of clubs to choose from at St. Andrews, both he and Sloan joined the Surf Club. According to the club’s website, “Surf sessions take place whenever there are suitable waves,” and “are split by ability – beginner, improver, intermediate and advanced.” So how did they do?

“It was so much fun,” says Will, who had no surfing experience when he joined. “I may not have made any significant progress in my surfing abilities, but I had an incredible time, and I would love to pick up surfing as a hobby in the future.”

The St. Andrews Surf Club offered one way to enter into campus life. But living and studying abroad can present challenges for anyone.

Reflecting on his semester in Scotland, Sloan notes that St. Andrews, with a significant number of international students at the university, “provided an experience abroad that did not throw me headfirst into a new culture.” He and Will were “fortunate to experience Scotland with other Americans and to be exposed to new cultures at a pace that provided time to adjust.”

Sloan is grateful that his parents came to visit him for a week during the semester, as did his girlfriend.

Will had “no real difficulties” as an American student abroad. “I found that the hardest part about being from the United States during the semester was missing the people I love,” he says. “There were occasional moments during the term when I missed all the people I have grown to love throughout my time at Erskine.”

Sloan recalls that as he and Will, along with some of the other American students at St. Andrews, adjusted to a new country together, “We were able to lament the loss of American food together while sharing American customs—like Thanksgiving—with our friends.”

‘Go and have the greatest time’

Sloan and Will attended the 2026 Stukes Lecture shortly after they had completed their semester in Scotland. This year’s speaker, Dr. Martha Merritt, chair of global education at the University of Richmond, stressed the value of international experience for college students.

Well before hearing Merritt’s lecture, Will had gained enthusiasm for the value of study abroad through his own experience. “I just want to encourage other people who are interested in this opportunity or feel called to it to go,” he says.

Saying he is thankful for “the opportunities I had to travel and see so many amazing things, as well as the people I was able to meet,” Will urges students to pray about the possibility of international study. Then, he advises, “if you feel as though you would enjoy it, go and have the greatest time.”

Shown at top is a bothy on the west coast of Scotland.