Posts tagged minor
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.
Jenneke Evers, University of Maryland, post #2
Life as an exchange student means experiencing living in another culture, speaking a different language, learning in a different style, but mostly meeting wonderful people from all around the world. In our first week at the university (which seems like such a long time ago already), all the international students were able to join activities to get to know each other and the university. We went to a baseball game in Washington DC where the Washington Nats were playing against the New York Mets. Our university is connected to the metro-network of the capital, so it’s easy to go to DC to have dinner, go out or go sightseeing. Together with my best friends (Fid from Istanbul, Mili from Buenos Aires and Irene from Valencia), we visit the city a lot. Washington DC is the capital of the United States and has a lot of government buildings and memorials. The city is different from other cities, because it does not have a skyline. The Washington Monument is officially the highest building in the city and no other building can be higher than the monument (169 m, not that high!).
Besides all the fun stuff, the main reason that I am here is of course to study. I am signed up for five courses, of which 3 in the transport engineering and 2 in international business and cultures. The style of teaching is much more school-like and personal, compared to my university. Classes of 30-40 people, homeworks and weekly quizzes are the standard. All the courses last the whole semester, so I just finished some midterms and in the last week, I have my finals. Time flies!
Bye, Jen
Jenneke Evers, University of Maryland, post #1
Hello lovely readers,
I was asked to write a little story about life as an exchange student. Let’s introduce myself first; I am Jenneke Evers, a 20-year old bachelor student at Delft University of Technology. My major is Technology, Policy and Management with a specialization in Transport Engineering. Normally I live in Delft, but for this semester I decided to follow my dream and move to the United States of America!
I arrived at the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park in August this year. College Park is a small city in the south of Maryland near the Washington D.C. area. When I first arrived at the campus of the university, I was overwhelmed by the size and the charm of the campus, it is like the movies! The whole campus is centered around the McKeldin Mall, which is a green area with university buildings on the sides and the McKeldin Library at the end. The campus hosts around 9,500 students who live in residence halls and apartments and has its own swimming pool, recreation centres, theatre, shops, sportfields and football-stadium with a capacity of 54,000!
In our first week, we went to a football game between UMD and Florida, which was great, including all the cheerleaders, marching band, fireworks and the national anthem! To be honest, I did not know the rules of American football, but living on campus, you learn them fast enough.
The colours of the UMD are red, gold and black, and to be a true Maryland student, you need to have at least several Maryland shirts, sweaters and shorts. So, immediately after the arrival of me and my roomie Fidan (from Istanbul), my american roommate showed us around campus and took us shopping to buy a Maryland-shirt and shorts.
In the next post, I will tell you all about my international friends and the first week of lectures.
Adios, ciao, tschuss, bye, see you later! Jen
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