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L-W East Grad Now Calls Scotland Home Thanks to College Decision

Enrolled at the University of St. Andrews, Nate Ruby has settled in to life across the pond, which includes being part of a band.

What started out as an exercise in "I can top that" turned into a world class education--literally--for Frankfort resident and grad Nate Ruby.

"My friend Amy was going to Syracuse, and that was the farthest of all my friends," said Ruby, who graduated in 2009. "I wanted to top that, so I applied to Cambridge (in England)."

Unfortunately for Ruby, the application ended up having three pages, not just the two he submitted, so he didn't make the cut. However, Britain's higher education system allows a potential student to pay one fee and apply to four colleges, which Ruby did, ending up at the University of St. Andrews on Scotland's east coast.

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Currently home in Frankfort for an extended vacation, Ruby told his friends he won't be back for two years. An aspiring musician, he left his band, Near Escape Velocity, back in St. Andrews and feels he'll need the time to continue building its career.

"We've been playing venues there like Mojoe's (in Joliet) and 191 South (in Mokena)," Ruby said.

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"The music there is very folksy, like Mumford and Sons, which just got huge here. It's not to say there's not a local rock scene because there is. It just took us a while to find it," he said of his band, which he described as hard core alternative, although he's been playing solo folk music gigs in the suburbs this summer under the stage name Ghost Pony.

Music, however, is not his major. It's now international relations, and Ruby said he may opt to stay abroad even after he finishes his Master of Arts degree in two more years.

Because the hardest part about being away hasn't been homesickness (he and his mom Skype every few days), it's been the cultural differences, which took him by surprise.

"It's the same language. People look the same," Ruby said.

"But it's a different culture, different music. The way they think about the social system and the environment ... it's so different because it's just such a small place," he added.

Which is why Ruby said he kind of forgot about being so far away from home. It wasn't until he came back to Frankfort this summer and embarked on a two-and-a-half-week "hippie fest road trip" to Maine and back that he realized how big the world really is.

"There are a lot of places to see, and it's actually not so small when you travel it," he said.

The world has become his classroom in more ways than one, which he feels has become the most valuable part of his study abroad education.

"Honestly, college is more about discovering who you are than becoming a diplomat or working in a state office," Ruby said.

The other key thing Ruby has learned from his time in the UK: being a vegan in Scotland is very difficult. No haggis for him, vegetarian or otherwise.

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