University of Massachusetts Amherst – manchester: on the road

The not so similar life

June 17, 2016June 20, 2016 Leave a comment

It has been a couple of months now since I set foot on campus. I’ve been amazed by the difference in how UoM (University of Manchester) and UMass Amherst (University of Massachusetts at Amherst) are run. I have to say that one blogpost may not be able to portray my understanding and feeling but I will have a go.

First and foremost, I will avoid mentioning UMass Amherst Dining as I believe no blogger or blog post can do it justice. No wonder it has been rated in the top two for several years running. If you are in Manchester and wondering why the big deal about food, it may be helpful to know that most American Universities have their students living on campus so making food available within campus is their duty, unlike UoM where most students live off campus. I will start by stating the differences in academics.

ACADEMICS

You are starting a marathon and you hear ‘On your marks, get set, go!’ That’s how it feels from the first day through to the end. Homework and graded quizzes every week, midterms for every subject, essays and finals. There are no gaps between final exams. You finish your course today then you could either have your exams the next day or the week after the weekend. Unlike at UoM where you’ve got at least four weeks between end of class and start of exams (Christmas break and January exam & Easter break and May/June exams).

	UoM (3 Semesters)	UMass Amherst (1 semester)
Essays	4	4
Graded Quizzes	0	16
Exams/Finals	15	4
Midterm tests/exams	1	6
Presentations	2	0
Homework	2	22
Extra credit assignments	0	4

At UMass Amherst, a nutritionist student can take a Political Science class regardless of major or minor, a Physics student can take an English class. At UoM, an Economic students taking a Biology class will receive an email from her programme administrator with a short content ‘Please see me!’. The reason UMass students can and UoM students can’t could be because the latter spend three years at University while the former four years, therefore having an extra year to diversify your learning. I will leave it to you to suggest whether this is beneficial or not.

The Learning Resource Centre is run by students including the receptionist. Students are paid above the minimum wage to assist other students. This is additional to Teaching Assistants’ and Professors’ office hours. They are located on the 10^th floor of the world’s tallest academic library – Du Bois Library.

du bois — Du Bois Library in the background

LIFE AROUND CAMPUS

Unlike UoM, UMass Amherst is the heart and soul of the city. One resident of Amherst said to me that when the semester ends, Amherst becomes a ghost town. I must admit that UMass Amherst does a lot to make their students feel at home since it is situated in arguably a remote area far away from a main city or shopping complex. Speaking of shopping complexes, the University does take advantage of students as they overprice their products at the University’s Store. The store is probably 15 times larger than UoM’s and sells products from nails cutters to MacBooks.

Events are regularly held in order to help keep the students at ease since there isn’t a lot going on other than the regular flat and fraternity parties on Friday nights nd weekend. This semester there were performances from Tinashe, Fetty Wap, Jason Derulo among others.

Student employment is quite impressive. Through an email, the UMass’ Human resource department wrote to me that 9884 students (Graduates and undergraduates) work for the university in capacities such as dining hall attendants, security personnel at halls and receptionists at the University’s hotel. UMASS student firefighters help the local fire department. Another interesting fact is that UMASS students drive the local buses that take students around university and town. My roommate drives one of these buses and says that other than being a good paying job it is enjoyable too.

Sport participation is something like I’ve never seen before. As a result of sport participation, students frequently end up not undertaking some of their assessments. However, their assessments are rescheduled since sport participation qualifies to be a valid mitigating circumstance. Lacrosse is by far the most popular sport. The free gym which is made available by the University helps keep the athletes and other students fit.

It was quite a busy semester but it has now come to an end. Needless to say that I’ve definitely experienced a different perspective of life.

I remembered the sky is blue just as I was leaving

A Brief Discussion on Classes at Amherst, Christmas and the Canada Road Trip

February 22, 2015February 24, 2015 Leave a comment

By James Eyke (University of Massachussetts Amherst, USA)

Whilst exam period back at home is a month long period of stress and near constant work, the same cannot be said for over here.

The classes I took were much smaller than lectures, one in fact had only six people in it, allowing for a more one-to-one learning experience. This is very helpful in my subject area, Chemistry, because it is relatively hard and allows me to easily get clarification on an area of confusion.

Throughout the term we were given two midterm exams, multiple problem sets and homework, keeping us on our toes and up to date the whole time. This was helpful as back at home it is all too easy to leave exam revision until the last minute.

The exams themselves took place in classrooms in our standard seats, and two out of the three allowed open notes and to a certain extent, online recourses. At one point during a midterm, the professor actually left the class during the exam for five minutes. This is a far cry from the exceptionally strict exam code in the UK and leads to a much more relaxed atmosphere.

My final exams took place over the period of a week and were before we broke up for the Christmas holidays, not the UK standard of January. Once they were done, we had a month off to either go home to England and have Christmas with our families or stay in North America.

We decided to stay in the freezing temperature of North America. It was an interesting time, we had a month off and all but ten days of it was spent in the now empty and desolate UMass campus. Christmas day was a surreal experience. As we had no cooking equipment we had a Christmas dinner of hotdogs and pizza in one of our suite’s common areas. This made us a bit sad. Fortunately it was all worth it though because it allowed us to go to Canada.

Christmas Dinner

– Canada –

We rented a car from a local rental station and left Amherst the morning of the 30th of December. The first stop was Montreal, which was a total of 285 miles away. The drive took a good six hours but it was still light when we got there. After checking into our hotel, the fantastic Hotel des Arts, we headed off into town to see the sights. It was at this point we realized how unbelievably cold Canada is, especially when the wind is up. But wrapped in our thermals, we managed to see some very interesting old buildings. The second day involved more sightseeing and of course, celebrating New Year’s.

After a few days we left Montreal and drove to the capital, Ottawa. Ottawa was even colder than Montreal and much smaller. Our hotel was the kind of shady motel you’d expect to see in a film, but it was reasonably comfortable. It was here that we faced our first winter snow storm following by freezing rain. On the morning we were due to leave we found the car surrounded by a good six inches of snow and encased in ice. After a good hour of snow shoveling and ice-scraping we managed to get out of the car park and onto the road. The only task that remained was a 300 mile drive on a snowy motorway through the Canadian wilderness.

Fortunately, we made it to our next stop, Toronto, in one piece. We had seen many many cars crashed/stuck in ditches on the drive so we were very thankful to be safe. Toronto was a good city, definitely the most American out of the Canadian cities so far. Sights included the CN Tower, which unfortunately was extortionately expensive to climb, so we didn’t. After a few days in Toronto we left and headed to what would be the high point of our trip, Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls lies on the border between the States and Canada, and when we went it was cold beyond belief. The temperature was -16 degrees on the day we were there, but with windchill it was reported to be -30 to -35 degrees. Cold aside, it was utterly beautiful and amazing to watch. After a good few photos were taken, we got back to the car and headed for the border. The last night of our trip was spent in a Hilton hotel in the city of Buffalo, which was fantastic. The relaxing night prepared us for the 400 mile drive the next day, which was completed without a hitch.

Our wonderful vehicle and Niagara Falls

All in all, the holiday was brilliant and made me almost glad I had missed Christmas at home and stayed abroad. Interestingly, while we were away Amherst had reached a colder temperature than we had experienced on the whole of the Canada trip, so maybe heading north wasn’t as foolish as everyone had said it was.

Academic Experience and First Semester at UMass Amherst

January 16, 2015January 20, 2015 Leave a comment

By Lucas Smith (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA)

With second semester starting imminently, I am now half way through my placement here at the University of Massachusetts. This semester has gone very fast, as I expected it to. Still, I think I have managed to cram in as many activities and experiences as possible. Already it has become a year that I will never forget.

Moving into my second semester here I will now be more accustomed to the academic aspect of my placement. While we were all told in our pre-departure meetings about how teaching vastly varies across the globe and from institution to institution, the reality really only hits home when you experience classes first hand. In my experience the classes are much smaller than what I was accustomed to in Manchester. My largest class consisted of roughly thirty students. Smaller classes result in more freedom in terms of discussion and activities. It is expected that everyone contributes in class which I initially found a bit strange as it is so different to the PowerPoint lecture based teaching I was used to in England. However, as I settled in to this form of teaching I found it to be useful as ideas were analysed closer so a clearer understanding of concepts could be grasped by the students. Aside from how the classes are taught, the work load and distribution also differs greatly from what I encountered in my previous two years at Manchester. Firstly, I would say that the work load is substantially more in the States, however the work seems to be less difficult. This, I believe, has aided my time management skills and work ethic this semester as I have been much busier than I usually would be. While academically I still prefer the system I am used to in England, it has been interesting and enjoyable to experience different styles of teaching and assessment. All in all, I feel the process of studying abroad has made me more rounded by building on skills such as time management.

However, there is much more to study abroad than just the academics. This semester has been amazingly fun. The campus is so large that there are always activities and sports events going on. Earlier this semester we had the Homecoming (American) football game which was an amazing spectacle for a foreign student such as myself. Thus far, my experience of viewing University sport had consisted of watching Varsity Rugby in Manchester in the rainy and cold conditions synonymous with our city; it was fair to say my mind was blown. Not only are they a much larger deal here, but they are also free for students and make a great day out.

Due to Amherst’s location in the North East of the USA, it has been fairly easy to get off campus and see what the region has to offer. So far I have been lucky enough to visit New York twice, Boston for Thanksgiving and go on a nine day road trip round Eastern Canada. The highlight so far has been travelling over winter break. Me and two other friends who opted to stick out the winter on campus rented a car after Christmas and headed north to Montreal for New Year’s. We spent a few days exploring the city and doing our best to remember our collective GCSE French. The city was such a contrast to the small town of Amherst where we had been for the term. From Montreal we then travelled east to the nation’s capital, Ottawa. After a short, snowy stop, it was onto Toronto which was the closest to a conventional US city. We managed to brave the coldest temperatures we had ever felt to see the amazing sites each place had to offer before returning home via Niagara Falls. All in all, my first semester was truly amazing and now I cannot wait to get started with my second!

Keep reading for updates!

Reflections on Study Abroad on my return to Manchester

December 24, 2014January 7, 2015 Leave a comment

By Hamish Russell (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA)

It’s been six months since I landed back at Heathrow, and almost four since I started back at the University of Manchester after my semester abroad. Getting back into everyday life with family and friends was easy, but adjusting back to the university work in Manchester was actually quite difficult. Having been working at a very different pace while in the US, the workload that I’ve been hit with so far in third (and final) year has been tricky to adapt to. As well as that, it’s been almost strange not always planning a trip to somewhere new, as if that’s the norm for a student.

One thing I have enjoyed since I’ve been back is helping current study abroad students. It’s been quite fulfilling being able to guide people through their preparations for their own study abroad exchanges, giving them information and details that were very helpful to me, and were perhaps not given to me before I embarked on my trip.

Returning to Manchester has also impressed upon me the importance and significance of studying abroad. Every time I talk to someone about university, or opportunities for after leaving university, I am always asked about my time abroad. I won’t have brought it up specifically, but it’s on my CV and seems to be something that catches peoples’ eyes. As well as making my time at university that bit more special, studying abroad has already begun to have a positive impact on my future.

After some time in Amherst

October 8, 2014November 18, 2014 Leave a comment

By James Eyke (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA)

Well the first few weeks of being here certainly have been very interesting. When I first got off the plane the first thing that struck me was the heat; the first full day was the hottest day of the summer so far. So for the first two weeks we had what felt like tropical weather, which was all very nice.

After we were taken care of and settled in nicely by the brilliant International Programs Office, we had a good few days of leisure before classes started. One of the more interesting nights was a frat party at a frat house. One could say it was very interesting to view this completely new, male-dominated subculture.

Classes here are taught very differently to back in the UK. They are generally much smaller (my Advanced Inorganic class has six students in it) and closely resembles secondary school / college classes. There is much more one to one discussion with the professor which is extremely helpful if you are unsure about some of the work. Homework is also a thing here, with set pieces of work given at the end of most classes.

Away from the academic side of things, the scenery here is absolutely fantastic. Being 90 miles west of Boston, we are pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Here is a photo that I took from the top of this fire watch tower located on top of a hill a few miles out of campus; it really gives you a sense of just how large this country is.

One of the highlights so far has been a day trip to Boston. It really is a wonderful city full of history. I was lucky enough to stumble across a guided tour of the Freedom Train just as I got off the bus. I can now happily say that I know just a little bit more about the start of the American Revolution now. After that I went on a boat tour of Boston Harbor, with commentary of course.

The day after Boston we headed down to a local swimming lake called Puffers Pond that is often frequented by college students. The water was surprisingly warm and there is even a large rock to jump off.

The weather now has finally started cool a bit and the famous fall colours are starting to appear in the trees. Trips coming up soon are New York and Six Flags New England, which I am certainly looking forward to. In about a month the demonic winter weather will descend upon Amherst, and who knows what that will bring.

Arrival and first two weeks

September 13, 2014September 19, 2014 Leave a comment

By Lucas Smith (University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA)

So I have touched down in Massachusetts, got settled and started classes. On one hand, it seems to have all happened so fast. However, it does seem a long time ago since I last sat down to write a blog piece just before my departure. The first two weeks here have been amazing. As to be expected, the first few days were a shock, and this probably was not helped by the continuous travel from Manchester to Amsterdam, then Boston and finally Amherst, all in the same day. However, in the following days I got out and about the campus. The campus here is really breathtakingly beautiful. Some of the standout features are the Du Bois Library which offers amazing views of the surrounding area and incorporation of nature with man-made structures all over campus.

The weather so far has been hot and humid, which was difficult to adjust to at first, but a group of us made the most of it by making the trip to the nearby Puffers Pond for one relaxed afternoon. The International Programmes Office here, as well as being extremely welcoming, put on a number of trips for the incoming students in the first week such as a short hiking trip up Mount Sugar Loaf which offered scenic views over the valley. Despite all the leisure activities I have now started classes, and if I am being truthful the work load has come as quite a surprise. I had been forewarned about the amount of reading and now I am working to get into a routine that it seems many US students abide by. This involves completing work and readings during the work day in order to be able to make the most of the weekends. Despite the work load all my classes are interesting and the more open discussion style of teaching I am enjoying thus far. In the following few days and weeks I hope to join societies such as the ski club here and meet many new people. All in all it has been an incredible start and my only worry is the speed at which time seems to be travelling! I hope you enjoy reading and stay tuned as I document my adventures this year!

Pre-Departure to Amherst

August 25, 2014August 26, 2014 Leave a comment

By James Eyke (The University of Massachusetts at Amherst).

After a long summer, all the preparation and sorting out for travelling to America is about to come into effect. Visa in hand, I will soon be stepping off the plane into a completely new environment full of opportunities and heading to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Naturally, one starts feeling very nervous around this time. Having not travelled as far as Northern Spain in the past 15 years, thousands of miles across the ocean is quite a daunting task. The thing I am most apprehensive about with regards to my journey however, has to be getting from Boston International Airport to the town I will be living in, Amherst, which is only a distance of 90 miles away.

The partner University has events during an orientation weekend set up for international students; this will include general admin help as well as two organised walks in the nearby hills and a day trip to Boston which I signed up for. As well as this, the International Programs Office there has a buddy system set up where I have been assigned another student who will hopefully be happy to help with any issues that may arise, making the whole process a bit less stressful.

As for packing, I am thinking it will be best to pack lightly to make way for any memorabilia I collect during the year. This is thinking far in advance, but with airport baggage restrictions one cannot be too liberal with clothes and luxuries.

For when my next blog post comes around I will have been at the University for a few weeks and I look forward to sharing what I have done and what I have seen. Below is a picture of my suitcase! University of Manchester hat in tow, naturally.

Post-UMass Travels, Part 2

July 13, 2014July 23, 2014 Leave a comment

By Hamish Russell (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA).

So before I head home after six of the best months I could have asked for, I’ll give a little update on my travels.

The first port of call after leaving Philadelphia was Washington D.C., the capital of the USA. I spent my two days in D.C. mainly on and around the National Mall visiting pretty much everything, starting with the Lincoln Memorial on the west side and ending with the Supreme Court building to the east. I also spent some time in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, which was huge, but somehow made to feel small by the sheer number of people inside it.

After D.C. I kept heading south, through Virginia, where I visited Monticello, the former home of Thomas Jefferson. Next stop was Savannah (Georgia), where I spent most of my time in the historical district – which was beautiful – being told by tour guides and street signs about the various films that had been filmed in Savannah, especially Forrest Gump.

Charleston in South Carolina had some streets possibly even more picturesque than those of Savannah, especially an area of houses known as ‘Rainbow Row’. In Savannah a great way to see the city was to take a trolley tour, but in Charleston the case was similar for the harbour tours that show off the city.

Following Charleston, I headed to my cousin’s holiday house in North Carolina for some downtime that included some serious messing around on jet-skis and generally making the most of the glorious weather before heading back to Philadelphia.

I guess all that’s left to do is come home. Which is a weird thing to write. I might have to try and fit some more little adventures in, but I’ll just have to see how everything pans out – either way, I think this is it for my blogging. It really has been a brilliant six months.

Post-UMass Travels, Part 1

June 4, 2014July 23, 2014 Leave a comment

By Hamish Russell (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA).

So now that my time at UMass is up, the travelling has got underway. My first stop was staying with my roommate and his family for about a week and a half and seeing the Boston and Cape Cod areas. After making the journey from UMass to his house – during which we had to turn around and drive back to UMass because our room keys were still in our pockets, and we didn’t fancy the $150 fine – we had a couple of days of just chilling out after the exam period.

Once we’d recovered, our first stop was Martha’s Vineyard. The Island has some truly beautiful scenery and weather, but we arrived pretty early into the tourist season so a lot of things were closed or not in full swing. Even so, it was well worth a visit.

After Martha’s Vineyard, we headed to Cape Cod to see that area before heading to Boston. The Cape was similar to Martha’s in a lot of ways, probably just because of the coastline and the sun. In order to cram as much of the Cape into the little time we had, we drove up and down it, taking scenic roads and stopping to see the highlights and for the occasional beach break.

When I got to Boston, I did pretty much everything. I did parts of the Freedom Trail, I saw Boston Harbour, I spotted the owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC (but was banned by my Bostonian friends from approaching because they deemed it “disrespectful and inappropriate”), I visited a ‘Cheers’ bar, saw the site of the Boston Marathon bombings and went to a Red Sox game. Of course, the history and culture of the city was very interesting, but as a sports fan, the baseball was the highlight.

The next leg of my travels is a road trip from Philadelphia to Savannah (in Georgia), so hopefully I won’t end up driving on the wrong side of the road or opening the door when I try to change gear.

The End… Almost

May 14, 2014July 23, 2014 Leave a comment

By Hamish Russell (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA).

Now that final exams at UMass Amherst are over, I thought I’d fill you in the goings on of the last few weeks. First up was the UMass Spring Concert, which featured the Goo Goo Dolls as the headline act – they were seriously good, despite it being almost unbearably hot and cramped in the Mullins Centre’s standing area.

The weekend after the concert, I headed over to Boston to pay a visit to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, where I was given a bigger event than I was expecting… The game happened to feature a memorial ceremony before play began that paid tribute to the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing that was carried out last year, and included a moving performance by the UMass Minutemen Marching Band.

Once play was underway, the Red Sox lived up to the occasion, winning the game in impressive fashion by coming from behind and winning with a walk-off hit in the ninth – and final – inning (I had to check that with my roommate, still working on my baseball terminology).

After the Red Sox game, exam season began to loom at UMass with essays being written and revision being avoided – almost as if I never left the UK. Despite this, the fun didn’t stop, with impromptu games of touch American football being organised among some of us international students. A few of us, with the help of a couple of Americans, even formed an intramural softball team which was enormous fun, especially when we managed to win a game. And now, with exams all over and my time at UMass up, my trip still has nearly two months left before I return home, so I’ll be posting about some of the adventures that I’ll be embarking upon… As long as I don’t run out of money.

Bye for now

Visiting Philadelphia

April 16, 2014July 23, 2014 Leave a comment

By Hamish Russell (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA).

Spring break was a really nice change of pace for me; having already done the clubbing sort of holiday with my UK-based friends I was more interested in hearing the tales that others brought back, and staying clear of the fray myself. So, while many of my friends from UMass headed to Cancún for the week, I caught my flight from Boston to Philadelphia. As soon as I landed I was thrown into the culture of a new city, with new terms for seemingly trivial things replacing the new words I’ve become accustomed to while in Massachusetts. I was told off for being difficult with the security people at Philadelphia Airport for insisting I didn’t have any tennis shoes with me, but it turned out that any form of sports shoe is known as a tennis shoe across Pennsylvania – which I did have. Even sandwiches have different names, ‘grinders’ in Massachusetts and ‘hoagies’ in Pennsylvania; any food confusion was avoided however as my uncle was keen to use me as an excuse to break the strict diet rules that my aunt tries to make him follow – making Philly Cheese Steaks our first choice for lunch.

While staying with my aunt and uncle, I visited the town of Gettysburg, the site of the US Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg. You’re allowed to drive around the battlefield without a tour guide, stopping at points of interest crucial to the outcome of the battle. While similar to visiting First and Second World War battlefields, this site has a different feel – you can easily visualise each attack and movement.

View from Little Round Top, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

After Gettysburg, I visited the city of Philadelphia itself. The National Constitution Centre, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and Reading Terminal Market were my main stops. Reading Terminal Market is Philadelphia’s answer to London’s Borough Market, with a plethora of stalls, stands and choices. However my lasting memory of it will, unfortunately, be being knocked from behind into a small girl sending her slice of pizza flying… I apologised to almost the entire market before buying the girl and her brother some replacement pizza before leaving as quickly as possible, my face burning red with embarrassment. Needless to say my other stops are much less painful in the memory, and all incredibly interesting.

Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, Philadelphia

DiNic's, Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia — DiNic’s, Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia

I spent much of the remainder of the week in the safe confines of the golf course, trying not to humiliate myself too much or lose too many balls to the hazards. Very few of the rules of golf were followed, and the rounds were dominated by stops at the various refreshment stands placed around the course and small wagers on holes – meaning scores were patchy to say the least, but the rounds were huge fun.

Getting back to UMass at the end was good fun, being able to catch up with people after a week away and hear their stories, especially when the first one told was that one of the guys was missing in action having been asked to get off a plane in North Carolina on the way back from Cancún… Still not 100% sure about what happened with that.

Exams, new experiences, and the cold

March 5, 2014July 23, 2014 Leave a comment

By Hamish Russell (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA).

When -6 starts to feel like it’s not particularly cold, you know you’ve settled into New England – or so my new friends tell me. With the weather in the northeastern United States as bad as it has been, I’ve not been venturing out too often since my trip to New York – but a good time is still to be had. Encouraged by some of the Americans I’ve made friends with, I’ve started ice-skating fairly regularly. While fun for us, we’ve had a mixed reaction from some of the regular skaters because of some of our antics, which have included skating round with American and British flags billowing behind us.

As well as picking up a new sport, I’ve had to get to work due to mid-term exams in all my subjects. While not counting for a huge proportion of the final grades or being particularly arduous, these exams are still taken seriously by everyone here (except those international exchange students lucky enough to be on a pass/fail programme). Thankfully, they’re all scheduled around the same time so that they’re all over quickly and, hopefully, painlessly.

On a slightly more enjoyable note, spring break is in less than two weeks and everybody is planning their various trips with ideas ranging from Cancun, Mexico to Miami, Florida. I however will be flying to Philadelphia for the break to see my cousins at their place, something I haven’t done for almost nine years, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing them all (and the city, I’m here to travel around after all).

Until next time.