Posts tagged UMD
Alex Zwemer, University of Maryland, Part 1, First Impression
Hi everyone,
My name is Alex Zwemer, I’m twenty year old Mechanical Engineering student, who got the opportunity to study abroad. I’m studying in the United States of America at the University of Maryland. There are a lot of exchange students in Maryland, with many of them from the TU Delft.
This is my first time in the USA, this made it extra exciting. I wondered how living here might be. The cultural stereotypes are quite close to reality. Everything is bigger, everywhere is fastfood and the people are very open. The campus is very big, although I’m living on campus it usually takes me a 10 minute walk to my class. Living on campus is a great experience, it’s just like in the movies. There are a lot of activities, such as American football games every 2 weeks, with a tailgate prior to it.
Up till mid-October the weather is really summerlike. In the beginning, this had its disadvantages, because my room didn’t have air conditioning. However, there are a lot of shops within walking distance that sell fans, making my dorm more bearable.
One big difference with the TU Delft is the meal plan, which allows you to eat as much as you want, whenever you want. Besides that it is also the place where you can catch up with each other and most of the activities planned are first brought up there. The backside however are the high costs, but that is totally worth it.
Cheers,
Alex
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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