Academics – GW Blogs from Abroad

The Challenges of Finals Period Abroad

AdminMay 7, 2015December 17, 2018

After having the amazing opportunity to travel to new places throughout Europe during my spring break, I’m now entering the period that all students dread, regardless of what continent you’re on: finals. Tackling finals in a new country, let alone in a new university with a different academic culture than your own, can be a difficult process. Finals period can be one of the most difficult parts of being abroad. As an abroad student, it’s easy to be distracted by everything happening around you. Of course you’d rather check out a cool new place and spend time with your new friends that you’ll be forced to say goodbye to soon. Therefore, I want to discuss the challenges of a finals period when you’re abroad, as well as how I’m currently overcoming them.

I’m studying a the British university of Queen’s University in Belfast. I’m sure you’ve heard how British academic culture is different from American academic culture. The rumors are true. The biggest difference I’ve notice between academic culture at GW and academic culture at Queen’s is the pacing and a greater sense of independence at Queen’s. At GW, it’s typical to have a mid-term exam, at least one paper, and a final exam, if not other assignments scattered throughout the semester. At Queen’s, there’s less assigned work for you to actually hand in, especially in the beginning of the semester. For example, I’m taking one course that requires only a final exam in the form of a 5,000 word paper. However, this one paper will be worth my entire mark. Therefore, there are pros and cons to this system. On the one hand, it may seem like you have a lot less work to do. However, in reality, your professors are expecting you to be working on this one assignment throughout the semester. Like I said, there’s more independence. They won’t be checking up on you or the progress you’re making, but if you aren’t doing any work until the end, it’ll show in you overall grade. That being said, it’s also a less stressful finals period if you are careful not to cram everything at the end. Unlike GW, we have more than a few reading days to prepare for exams. Rather, we have at least a couple weeks, if not more, depending on your exam schedule. Furthermore, each class is worth more credit here, so while I have to tackle five finals at home, I only have to worry about three here.

Therefore, there’s a lot of aspects of British academic culture that, in my opinion, makes for a less stressful finals period. However, the fact that I’m an abroad student makes it more difficult. It’s hard to not become distracted by all of the opportunities and events that seem more fun than spending the last month of your abroad semester in the library. In order to overcome this struggle, I’ve decided that the best approach to finals while you’re abroad is simply balance. You shouldn’t be in the library as much as you might be at GW. Let’s face it- in five years, you’d rather accept a grade that might be a little below your average than miss out on an opportunity that you might never get a chance to partake in at home. That being said, the biggest key to remaining unstressed is planning ahead. Here in Belfast, many students have adopted a ‘work hard, play hard’ attitude. This is a good rule to follow while abroad. Really, it comes down to using you’re study time wisely. When it is time to study, and when you have any spare time, put good use to it. Work hard in the library, rather than waste the time on Netflix or procrastinating. That way when that once and a lifetime opportunity comes along, or even a fun night out with your friends, you can enjoy your time and your abroad semester to the fullest, while also knowing that you’ve got a good grip on your academics.

Mid-Semester Thoughts

AdminMarch 31, 2015December 14, 2018

By kennatim

The academic culture here at Dublin City University is remarkably different than at GW. What the difference boils down to is an emphasis on independence. Long texts are simply assigned at the beginning of the semester for reading over the course. There is not much class time during the week and when there is, classes are often near empty. There are no pop quizzes, no assigned readings, minimal presentations, and very infrequent class discussion.

I can handle all of that, but my least favorite new academic component is that the professors here are much less approachable than at home. Fortunately, our staff here at my program, CIEE have been wonderful at bridging that gap.

What the entire semester comes down to is that final paper or final exam. That gives me the chills just writing it. But it seems Irish students are less competitive when it comes to grades. That must be why they can actually withstand eight semesters of waiting for four months to see if you actually understand the material or not. The system has its pros: helping students to become independent, allowing them to explore parts of a subject they might be interested in rather than making certain sections compulsory, and really drawing a line between the go-getters and the slackers. I personally enjoy my American experience, with a more in-depth, hands-on approach. The classes I have done the best in include very active professors and courses that involve frequent quizzing and testing to keep you on your toes. I never thought I would say that I wish I had more tests and quizzes, but they say studying in Europe is all about finding your true self, so here we stand.

While I cannot say I have really enjoyed the differences between Irish and American college education, I have chalked it up as a “cultural learning experience.” It will definitely help me in my approach to unconventional learning in the future. And it has definitely led me to truly appreciate how lucky I am to attend such an amazing university with a system I am so familiar with.

The Seoul Groove

AdminMarch 31, 2015

KUBA buddy learning how to make dressing

Annyeonghaseyo (Hello)! Week 3 and I am already starting to feel like a local. Sure my Korean speaking skills are still nonexistent and I blatantly stand out of the crowd, but I have made some excellent friends here. The lady at the convenience store I frequently visit has now started to say hello to me.

The workload has increased for my major specific courses so I now find myself going to school and then hanging out for three hours after and then doing homework into the night. My friends and I have been going out to many dinner places around Anam. One of my favorite places is this authentic Korean restaurant where there is no English menu. It is right next to the Hana Square campus and their Kimchee is delicious and comes in big servings. Thus far, my favorite foods here have been octopus on a stick, pickled kimchee radishes, and family style Korean BBQ. Every meal you eat here is essentially family style. The dishes are big and you can get two dishes for a table of 6 people. The price for these dishes is cheap too and comes out to 10,000 won ($9) a person and at minimum 3,000 won ($2.50) a person.

This past weekend I joined my roommate Alissa at Korean church. Never having gone to a church this would have been an interesting experience for me even if I wasn’t in Korea. The church is located in the shopping district of Myeongdong and holds mass in English. The priest there was from Ireland. When we walked in there were maybe 50 rows of pews and beautiful stain glass windows going down the sides. We sat near the front left, next to Korean women who attended mass in lacey white head covers. The service went on fully in English and it was very interesting to see the native Korean speakers get into the English versions of the Bible. The only noticeably Korean part of the church, other than the people, was one painting on the wall of Korean religious scholars. It was very interesting to see this type of depiction.

On the topic of religion, this past Saturday I went to the Seoul Buddhism Expo with my KUBA group. The metro ride took 40 minutes and we had to stand the whole way but when we arrived it was worth it. The first area my KUBA buddy and I went to was the traditional Buddhist food section. There we were taught how to make traditional dressing and then how to grind up soy beans for tofu. There were also many Buddhist monks there. Men and women had their heads shaved and wore long gray robes. Everyone was friendly and it was interesting to see them. After this, we went on to make lotus flowers out of long straws and crinkly paper. It was quiet the ordeal and a Korean woman who ran the craft stand would constantly watch over us international students. After the Buddhism Expo the KUBA group went out to Korean BBQ. It was delicious as always, cooking right in front of you. The KUBA buddies at our table decided that this outing calls for Soju shots and so we started up at dinner. I am still baffled at the “work hard, play hard” attitude of the Koreans, but I must say, that I have really gotten into it.

To sum up my Korean experience so far: I am having the time of my life and I cannot wait to experience the weeks ahead! Annyeoungkyeseyo (Goodbye)!

Seoul Searching

AdminMarch 24, 2015December 14, 2018

By desansky0826

Annyeonghaseyo (Hello)! So far it is the end of two weeks here in Korea and my love for the country has grown. The first week of school went well. All of my professors speak excellent English and can demonstrate a wide array of knowledge in both English and Korean. The engineering courses here require a chapter reading a class, which is challenging due to the content, but is overall manageable. Being a girl in an engineering class in Korea leaves me in the minority. Most of my classes are 95% boys, but luckily I have my friend Sabrina from GWU here with me to attend them all. I have had no trouble making Korean friends in classes. I have mainly noticed that they won’t talk to you unless you talk to them first, but when you do talk to them they are very enthusiastic and friendly. The grades here work on an A-F system like the US. I have heard from previous students who went on this exchange program that there is no homework given in classes just midterms and finals. This turned out to be incorrect for my classes and I have to do chapter summaries, practice problems, and then midterms and finals.

Monday through Thursday I have school from 10:30am to 5pm. I usually try to go to the international student gym in CJ House at 8:45am because it is only open until 10am and then again at 6pm. It is quiet the struggle forcing myself out of bed to walk uphill to do some basic workouts, but the security guard from CJ House and I have now become friends because of this. Classes are usually an hour and fifteen minutes long, unless they are a lab course. At the end of last week we had a KUBA cheering orientation. At this orientation, the KUBA buddies took their time teaching us the cheers KU students chant at sports games. These cheers are usually aimed at the KU rival Yonsei University. They are hilarious including translations like “Yonsei gets drunk on beer” and “your mascot is a bird.” There were only 20 cheers that we learned out of the possible 100 cheers. Cheering was great but something I was not prepared for was the dancing. At least half of the cheers we were taught included fast-paced head banging and group jumping. The next day I was so sore that turning my head became an issue. At the end of this 2 hour event my new KUBA t-shirt was soaked in sweat, but it was a good time.

Additionally, this past weekend my GWU friends and I won three day club passes to go to Gangam. Yes, that is Gangam from the PSY song and it is considered the super-city part of Seoul. If I were to compare this to New York, Gangam is Manhattan and Anam, the area we live in, is Queens. We went all three days, met some fun people, and danced all night. We went to a club bar on Thursday, Club Syndrome on Friday, and then Club Eluis on Saturday. Korean clubs play typical house music in one section and then American rap music in another, such as Beyoncé or Rihanna. Dancing at these clubs was great and being able to recognize other international students there made everything even better. The clubs were about 5% international students and 95% were Korean; however this made no difference because everyone was really into having a good time. After a club we would typically go get food afterwards, and my friend John had an argument with our new French friend John Paul about America culture. The general perception of Americans from John Paul is that they are crazy, fried chicken-loving, gun owning, idiots. When I asked my KUBA buddy what Korean people thought of Americans she said that they think they are crazy, yet very friendly people. The consensus amongst others was also that Americans are crazy. This perception is not too bad and actually fits in well with the work hard play hard attitude of the Korean people. At least three times now I have seen Korean students sitting in circles in Hana Square, the science and engineering campus, taking shots of Soju after class at 5pm, which seems crazy to me.

This week the US ambassador to South Korea was razored by a political extremist against US-Korean joint military efforts. This seemed to be a big deal to CNN but to the Korean college students I asked, it seemed minor. They agreed that it was just an extremist protesting and not public thought. Currently, it is a Wednesday and I am sitting in a coffee Café called DaVinci and I had a garlic cheese sandwich. I tend to eat American food for lunch and Korean food for dinner here. The whole room is packed with Korean students getting lunch in between classes. They usually order food here family style so that everyone can share. A simple ham, egg, and cheese and coffee here in Korea is 3,500W like 3 US dollars, while in Carvings at GWU it is at least $5.50. The students are loud and happy. Shout out to my sister Yanina, I have not yet met a single Kim, but hopefully these stories satisfy what you call the DailyKim. Anyways, more adventures are still to come next week! Annyeoungkyeseyo (Goodbye)!

U.S. vs. Thai Agricultural Practices

AdminMarch 13, 2015December 14, 2018

By LizGoodwin04

My program here in Thailand consists of five two-week academic units that we complete before beginning our research at the end of the semester. The first week is spent attending lectures, doing readings and participating in activities surrounding our topic. Then, for the last week we travel to a village in Thailand to live with a host family and participate in exchanges with different organizations. The units we will be studying this semester include Agriculture, Thai Politics, Chang Mai (a province in Thailand), Land Use/Forests, and Mining and Development. After spending the first month taking intensive Thai classes and immersing ourselves in Thai culture and history, we began our first unit on agriculture.

At the end of this unit, we stayed in a homestay in Yasothon province, where we lived with organic farmers. In Yasothon, we learned firsthand about the differences between organic and chemical farming and compared both the Thai and American agricultural systems. One thing I really enjoyed about the unit was learning about Thai perspectives on American agriculture.

On the last day of our stay in Yasothon, our group met with P. Ubon, the coordinator of the Alternative Agriculture Network in Thailand. The Alternative Agriculture Network is an organization that works with the Thai government and various NGOs to empower communities and farmers to move away from chemical-intensive monocropping.

Throughout the exchange with P. Ubon, we asked him a lot of questions about the future of Thailand’s agricultural system and the problems with the system as it is. In a lot of cases, he blamed the United States for the direction the Thai agricultural system is heading. He explained that because Thailand is developing so fast, the number of small-scale farms is decreasing and technology-based farming, like what is common in the U.S., is increasing. According to P. Ubon, this poses a large threat to the well being of the Thai people because it means there will be more health problems, debt and environmental degradation in Thailand. However, when we asked P. Ubon about how Thailand plans to address this shift in agricultural practices, he said it was the responsibility of the United States to solve.

P. Ubon’s answer really surprised me. While the United States may be able to reform the agricultural system of the U.S., it was difficult to understand how the U.S. would be able to change the future of Thailand’s farming practices. Though we ran out of time with P. Ubon, I would love to visit the province later in the semester and talk to him more about how the United States could help Thailand or why the United States might be interested in helping to preserve Thai farming practices.

Study Shock

AdminMarch 11, 2015December 14, 2018

By jdippel529

It’s no secret that while studying abroad, your course load is generally easier. The more relaxed academic setting during study abroad is great because it gives students more time to focus on experiencing the culture of their host country, or to travel to other places. The down side to this no-stress atmosphere is that when midterms or finals week rolls around, we don’t remember how to cope. Even though most of us are juniors in college, being abroad leads you to suddenly forgot how to handle a couple of exams and papers that are all due during the same week. So, here are 3 extremely useful tips that I am sure will help those trying to cope with studying for midterms or finals abroad:

Find a place to study. This may seem like an obvious tip, but remember that most students who are studying abroad don’t live on campus, where finding a quiet place to student is much easier. Before midterms week, I thought that studying at home would the answer. But, the weekend before midterms my host mom had all of her childhood friends over, and I’m sure you can imagine how loud that got. Moral of the story is, find a quiet place to study beforehand. Studying abroad isn’t like at GW where you can always study in your own place, or set up camp in Gelman. Look up any public libraries that may be around, or cool cafes that offer free Wi-Fi. Just make sure you have a place to focus before the last minute; I learned this the hard way.

Keep in contact with your professors. This is especially easy for students studying abroad through a GW program. Since the class sizes are so small, it is easy to develop a close relationship with any one of your professors. At GW, however, lectures tend to scare students away from asking too many questions or going to their professor for help. But, during midterms week, my classmates and I asked any and every question we could about what topics to focus on while studying. What we found was that all of our professors genuinely wanted us to do well, and gave us a tremendous amount of helpful tips. Study abroad allows students to develop a unique and close relationship with their professors that we should all take advantage of when midterms and finals roll around.

Plan accordingly. As I’ve said in my other blogs, it feels like there aren’t nearly enough weekends to travel while studying abroad. As a result, students may make the mistake of booking a trip the weekend before midterms, or even during them. This is why I strongly suggest having all of your syllabi spread out before you whenever you go to plan a trip. I almost planned a trip to London the weekend before midterms, but thankfully thought to check my school calendar beforehand!

The "study" in study abroad: Academics in Buenos Aires

AdminAugust 25, 2014December 14, 2018

By anuhyabobba

More often that not, it seems that the ‘study’ aspect of studying abroad is considered more secondary to the true experience of immersing yourself in a culture you are unfamiliar with. But, the courses I have been taking through my program have been a beautiful complement to my time in Buenos Aires.

To start off with, I have not taken Spanish prior to coming here. I only have a background in French, which helps tremendously in learning Spanish. Because I am at a beginner level, I have Spanish from Monday to Thursday with two different professors. From the beginning, they only spoke to us in Spanish, which was overwhelming but now I am so glad that they do. It forces me to pay more attention to the vocabulary I learn from class or from my host family and to then connect the dots together to understand what they are saying. Being in Buenos Aires itself while doing this is nothing short of what I needed. I am able to leave the classroom and put the language to use daily, and I see myself picking it up faster and faster each day.

I absolutely love the courses I am taking here. Latin America had always been a component in my previous classes -- never the focus. To be taking three classes that deal with issues areas within the region is what I have looked forward to all last year. One is called “Drugs and Violence in Latin American Literature and the Arts.” I came in with the misconception that it would focus largely on subjective violence -- in essence, people killing people or other acts of physical violence. But, the professor focuses more largely on systemic violence or what causes this subjective violence we see on TV to happen. The other two courses I am taking are centered around Argentina, one dealing with its environment and one with its history. All three of these courses overlap and remain more interesting than the next. There are often field trips to museums or such for these classes, which adds to the experience even more. I am able to really delve into what has been a interest of mine for a while, and being able to discuss what I learn with my host family adds a new perspective each time.

Learning about Latin American in the U.S. compared to learning about it within the region itself has been vastly different and eye opening. Being in Buenos Aires itself gives you further context to the history and politics and literature I learn about in class at IES, which makes for a more deeper understanding. While in the U.S., you can learn about all of these subject areas but the context and the views of the people from the region itself can go missing from time to time. But, what I have learned at GWU has definitely given a solid background for me to expand my interest and knowledge to greater heights.

The (Academic) Sweet Spot

AdminMay 24, 2014December 14, 2018

By anishag22

As I prepare to finish the last assignments of my junior year this week, I keep thinking about how strange and simultaneously amusing the academic differences between England and America are. Sometimes it's just hard to believe that there is such a disparity in the workload. I touched on this in an earlier post upon my arrival in Bristol, but now having completed most of the semester I think I can speak to the costs and benefits of each academic system.

Essentially, my workload at GW is at least three times as intense as it is here in Bristol, and that's saying something because the University of Bristol is not a shabby institution: It's part of the Russell Group (the UK's equivalent to the Ivy League) and ranked in the top 30 universities worldwide. And yet, I find myself sitting here in Bristol writing one essay that counts for 100 percent of my grade in my upper division politics class. In America, I typically have at least five assignments/essays/exams that combine to constitute my final grade. In fact, I'm pretty sure "busy work" isn't even a phrase in England, because busy work doesn't exist. To be honest, "homework" doesn't either. I keep up with the readings which of course helps as you're writing the essay, but I am never quizzed on what I've read like I am at GW - it's just assumed that you know how to pace yourself and do the work required to succeed in the course.

As for which system I prefer, it's hard to say because I like elements of both. I strongly believe that both countries should actually alter the current system: American universities should relax a little and allow students more academic independence through less busy work, but UK universities could use a bit more continuous assessment. There needs to be a middle ground. At GW, I'm constantly feeling deadline pressure for something, but at Bristol that's a rare feeling. The downside about American universities is the constant stress and occasional inability to retain information because of the nonstop assessments, but the upside is that you are continuously engaged in the subject matter. The downside about UK universities is the lack of continuous engagement with the subject matter, but the upside is that with the reduced stress I have actually found myself doing independent research just for the fun of it - I feel more engaged and excited about my courses here in Bristol. In sum, US and UK universities could learn a thing or two from each other, so here's to hoping that both countries can find that academic "sweet spot" in the near future.

Until next time -

Xx, Anisha