Michele Facchinelli – Georgia Institute of Technology – Post 2
Hey everyone! It is time for me to write a second post. I have been in the US for almost three months already, and the experience is going great. I have met so many nice and interesting people from this country and many others, and can really say that I am very satisfied with my experience.
Classes
Classes at Georgia Tech work a bit differently. First of all, at least for the faculty of Physics, where I take all my courses, lectures have very little students. The most classmates I have are about 20 and the least is the incredibly low number of 3. This makes lectures more one-to-one and leaves more time for interaction with the professor.
Another big difference are the homework problems. For every class we are assigned a set of problems for the following week or for two weeks after. The homework is then graded by the TA’s and it will affect a certain percentage of our final grade. Sometimes the homework deadlines all match which makes things even harder (especially if you are not used to compulsory homework). Luckily, classes only last one hour and each day I have 3 hours of lessons. This leaves a lot of extra time after classes to study and I still end up having free time in the evening.
To be honest, I prefer this teaching method, rather than staying at the University for 8 consecutive hours, as sometimes happens at TU Delft.
Football
Football in the US is a very huge thing, especially in the South. So every week or so, there is a football game between the Georgia Tech team (Yellow Jackets) and some other University. Although I am not a fan of watching sports, I have had a lot of fun cheering and watching the games.
It’s really crazy how many people attend the Football games. The stadium is always packed with fans, both students/alumni and other people not really affiliated with the school, but that just enjoy watching the games.
Social Life
Even though classes have very little students (and it seems it would be easy to get to know one another), most students find their friends outside their Departments. Fraternities and other associations are extremely common in the US and that is where they make friends.
I met most of my friends at the Christian Campus Fellowship (or CCF), and with them I shared most of my experiences. Interestingly enough, that is the same place Julia van der Burgt (another student from TU Delft that went to Georgia Tech in 2013) spent a lot of time (and they actually still remember her).
CCF helped me integrate into the American society very well and right from the beginning. They organize a lot of amazing and fun activities. Just last weekend we went to Panama City Beach in Florida, where we enjoyed one last day at the beach with really nice weather. Also, they plan many events, like camping, parties (like the Halloween and pumpkin carving in the photos), trips to corn mazes and many more every week.
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