Willemijn de Boer, University of Maryland, post #1, Arriving on campus
Hi everyone!
My name is Willemijn de Boer, I am a third year TPM student who now studies at the University of Maryland for this semester. The University of Maryland (UMD) campus is located approximately 20 minutes from Washington D.C.
As you may hear from other Exchange students, it is hard to imagine what it would be like to study abroad. Since I went to the United States, I expected everything to be bigger and better: this expectation turned out to be quite close to reality. The campus is huge and after 8 weeks I still manage to get lost when walking back from class… With almost 40,000 students living on the UMD campus (twice the number of students enrolled at the TU Delft) you feel like being part of a big community with many events and activities going on. As an exchange student you are very well accepted into this community of American students, as long as you tell them everything about your home country. What the USA is for European students, is Europe for American students!
University of Maryland campus
Most of the exchange students here live on campus. In my opinion, living on campus is what contributes highly to my study abroad experience. I got very lucky that I was assigned to a very spacious apartment with a kitchen, together with three American girls and two other exchange students. Most of the on campus students share bedrooms with another student, but since my Italian roommate is also an exchange student we get along very well and I am very happy that I got her as my roommate.
Another feature of American campus life is the possibility to subscribe yourself into a meal plan. Although this meal plan is quite expensive (around $20 a day), I can recommend every future UMD student taking it. It gives you the perfect opportunity to get over your day together with all your friends and you never have to do any cooking or grocery shopping. With this meal plan, you can enter the dining hall anytime a day and get as much food as you want. This ‘Anytime Dining Plan’ tends to be a proof of discipline, and as we don’t want our moms to be negatively surprised when walking into the airport arrivals hall at the end of December, we try to keep it to only three meals a day.
Studying in the United States is an amazing experience and I am so happy that I have been given the opportunity to go here. At first I had to get used to the American accent of most of my American teachers, but since the education program gives you lots of possibilities to ask questions and get familiar with the class material, passing courses is not very difficult. The difficult part however is finding time for studying, as all the exchange students want to join every activity and see every American city. We travel a lot and that’s what makes the experience even greater.
All the best from College Park and I’ll keep you posted during the second half of my semester!
Willemijn
Philadelphia
New York City
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