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Staying Sustainable In the States
Phoebe Faupel, North Carolina State University, United States Before moving to the United States for my year abroad at North Carolina State University, I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to live sustainably compared to being at university in the UK. I expected to rely heavily on cars and thought I might struggle to maintain some of the habits I’d built at home. However, one thing that genuinely surprised me was how many opportunities there were to make environmentally conscious choices in day-to-day student life. Here are a few ways I have managed to stay sustainable while studying abroad in the States. Walking More Than You Think: Although American…
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8 THINGS YOU ONLY LEARN FROM STUDYING IN THE US
By Erdoo Yongo (North Carolina State University, USA) 1. You always seem to have some kind of test – whether it is a midterm or pop-up quiz, these are so frequent that after the first few tests you stop being surprised when your professor issues you with a test. 2. You have to submit papers via hard copy – for those of us who are used to staying up all night before an essay is due and submitting it online with only minutes to spare, this is quite a hassle. 3. Attendance contributes to your final grade – most professors take attendance every class to monitor students attendance and usually…
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JAMAICA JAMAICA
By Erdoo Yongo (North Carolina State University, USA) So I went to Jamaica for spring break and the first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane was the heat. Everyone working at the airport were super chilled and friendly. After the tedious task of getting through immigration and customs, I was picked up by my airport transfer. I would recommend this method of getting to your hotel as taxis are known for taking people to the wrong places. It took about an hour and a half to get to Negril from the airport, but the journey was relaxed and the driver was very talkative so that made it seem…
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NOW YOU’RE IN NEW YORK, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
By Erdoo Yongo (North Carolina State University, USA) As I stated in my first post, before heading off to my exchange university, North Carolina State University, I went to New York. On New Year’s Day I boarded the plane from London Gatwick, not knowing what to expect from the USA – especially New York, but still feeling excited. The best thing about a late flight was that as the plane was landing all you could see were lights. Flashing lights… I guess I should not have been surprised as New York is the city that never sleeps! After an eight hour flight, my tiredness outweighed the excitement that I was…
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Predeparture Thoughts Before NCSU
By Erdoo Yongo (North Carolina State University, USA) It is the morning before I leave for the US and I am feeling a mixture of emotions – on one hand I am feeling really happy and excited for the adventure ahead, but on the other hand I am feeling quite sad because it obviously difficult to say goodbye to family for such a long time. It is really strange because I honestly do not understand how quickly I got to this moment – about to leave to study abroad for five months. The University of Manchester application process is still fresh in my mind – I do not know whether…
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Impressions on Returning Back to Manchester
By Christopher Tenant-Flowers (North Carolina State University, USA) So I’ve been back at Manchester for nearly four months now and I’m still not entirely sure if I’m ever actually going to be totally used to it after my time in the USA. Whilst when in the USA, I found there were so many things I would like to transfer from England to the USA. In the classroom it is completely the opposite, and there are so many aspects of American university that I would like to see brought into the UK university system and teaching methods. Going back to straight lectures, especially two hour ones, has probably been the biggest struggle,…
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Trips, Travels and Adventures!
By Christopher Tenant-Flowers (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA). So having just returned from that holiday made famous in numerous American TV shows and films: Spring Break! Now seemed like a good time to tell y’all about some of the trips I have been luckily enough to go on during my time here. What follows are the much abbreviated highlights. Sorry for skimming over some things but otherwise you would be confronted with an almighty essay. Hopefully this gives you a brief taste though. Fall Break: This was a great little holiday roughly half way through the first semester here which I guess equates to the NCSU version…
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School Life
By Chris Tenant-Flowers (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA). Hello again! firstly let me apologise for my absence from this blog. I really didn’t believe it had been as long as it had been since I posted but time is really, really flying by this year. I do plan to be able to post a few more of these in the coming weeks as I have a brief gap in my workload it seems (fingers crossed). With that in mind it seems like a good time to perhaps talk about some of the differences in school life that I have experienced over here. This is after all an…
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Go Wolfpack
By Chris Tenant-Flowers. Ok, so I’ve been here In Raleigh North Carolina for about two weeks now so here are some of my first impressions: I think the most obvious thing for me to mention is the whole school spirit thing. I was told to expect this but it has still caught me off guard. People love their school and take great pride in going there and it is no different here at NC State. I’m not saying we in Manchester or England generally don’t take pride in our universities but not like here. You may see the odd UoM hoodie in Manchester but here genuinely one in every 6…
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Raleigh
By Matt Briggs (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA). Well, I’ve just realised I really didn’t pack very well for Raleigh. I brought jeans and long sleeve shirts as well as jackets and jumpers. I’ts been about 34 degrees everyday! It’s so hot. Other than the fact that I’ve been overheating all the time and getting sun-burnt and looking like a Brit on holiday, it’s been good. I’ve had my first set of classes now and it feels a bit more like school (which is nice). You get sent homework every class and it needs to be in the next week. I’m just getting used to doing work…
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North Carolina – Getting Ready To Go
So this is my first post before leaving England to head to North Carolina State University (NCSU) as its also known to become a member of the NC State Wolfpack. Currently I’m just sitting here staring at a rather sizeable pile of clothes but other than packing I think everything is good to go. My passport isn’t due to expire for a few years, I have my student visa, my health records, I’ve paid for my halls of residence, health insurance and all other fees that you have to. So as far as all the physical things I need and paperwork goes I’m all set. I’ve also toured/been dragged around…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
