The atmosphere throughout the university grounds of Scotland’s University of St. Andrews was laced with anticipation of change that would surely result from a win for either side of the vote for Scottish independence. On Sept. 18, Scottish citizens 18 and older took to the polls in a landmark vote to determine Scottish independence. Subsequently, on the following day, 55 percent to 45 percent of voters chose to remain a part of the United Kingdom.

According to LT alumnus and student at St. Andrews Katie Norton-Williams `13, there were high levels of stress surrounding the campus environment of on voting day.

“I had to walk past the building where everyone voted in St. Andrew’s to get to classes and the atmosphere outside was more tense because you had people [with] Vote Yes and the Vote No signs, but I think a lot of Scottish people were just really nervous about what the outcome would be,” Norton-Williams said.

After tallying all the votes in every district, the BBC declared that the “Yes Vote” would fail at 5 a.m. on Sept. 19. An hour later it was official: the nationalists’ fight to split with the UK was over for now. For the majority of UK citizens the “No Votes” win was a relief.

“I think it’s probably a huge relief for most people involved. This would’ve been a massive change that would’ve had major political and economical implications,” AP comparative government teacher David Kruiswyk said. “I think the fact that it did not pass has allowed a lot of people to sleep easier, particularly in the UK’s Parliament.”

Similarly, Norton-Williams expressed the relief felt throughout campus after the vote.

“I know a lot of people that were relieved, especially international students; you don’t want your life uprooted. I think the English are relieved, and economic uncertainty was the main concern, I believe the plan was for Scotland to use the pound in a similar way that Panama uses the U.S. dollar, and there was definitely concern over that.”

In terms of consequences to the U.S., a “Vote Yes” win would have created economic instability in American trade with the UK.

“There were a lot of unanswered questions that would have to have been resolved. What currency would Scotland use? Would they be able to join the European Union? And how would all of that affect the U.S. trade relationship with Scotland and the United Kingdom?” Kruiswyk said.

However, economics is only one factor of the multi-faceted movement.

“A lot of the significance behind the vote also has to do with being a Scottish nationalist and wanting to have your heritage represented as a singular country, versus taking pride in being British,” Norton-Williams said. “There definitely was a lot of emphasis on being passionate about heritage and identifying with a particular group.”

Ultimately, the Scottish nationalists will have to be content with upcoming legislature to grant the Scottish Parliament with “extensive new powers”, announced by Prime Minister David Cameron early Sept. 19. Cameron promised specific details to be worked out in November and the start of draft laws to come in early January 2015.