Ignas Banionis – Business Management – Level 2
California State University, Chico, USA
First of all, I would like to thank ºÚÁÏÉçÇø and CSU: Chico for this amazing experience to study abroad for half a year. When I first heard there was a chance to go on an exchange, I did not even hesitate and applied straight away. Hundreds of documents and forms to fill out, hassle to get a visa and the most complicated communication between America and Europe stressed me out a lot, but in the end it’s all definitely worth it!
Accommodation
I have been living in the University Village, which is 15 minutes away from campus. Everything seemed pretty okay apart from one huge disadvantage - most of these American dorms offer places where you have to live with another person in one room. My main advice is not to live with some random person in one room that you barely know; it is definitely worth paying one or two hundred dollars more to avoid that lack of privacy and awkwardness. Each person has different timetables, and sometimes when you want to rest up, your roommate has to wake up at 7am, for example, that’s where problems occur. Luckily, after a couple of weeks, my roommate had some problems with studies, so I ended up living by myself. Overall, housing in California is definitely more expensive compared to Europe.
Flights and travelling
My main advice is to keep on looking at different websites constantly before making a final decision. Personally, I used Skyscanner and found a pretty good deal to fly to San Francisco. Do not hesitate to buy your tickets, as the more you wait, the more expensive they are going to be. In addition, Chico is a really complicated place to get to if you don’t have a car. There are some trains and buses that go directly to the city, but the prices are just ridiculous. One way to solve this problem is to join a Facebook group which was called ‘Chico State Rideshare’. I ended up saving a lot of money as this group posts some offers where students drive their own car from one city to another, and all you have to do is pay some gas money to that person.
Education
The American education system is completely different from the one at QMU. I had to take 4 modules, which were pretty interesting and unique compared to Europe. The main difference was that every week you had to take tests, quizzes, short essays, and presentations, and they are worth around 5% of your final mark. On the one hand, it is a great way to boost your motivation as I constantly needed to put effort in order to accomplish my home tasks. With regard to final exams, they were pretty easy compared to ºÚÁÏÉçÇø. I had to take 4 final exams and most of them were multiple choice questions which were pretty straightforward. Overall, education seemed not that challenging compared to Europe, although I learned plenty of new things, acquired some knowledge about American politics, different states, the way people think and of course, law and business fields.
Culture
Personally, American culture is way more different from Europe. I felt culture shock the day I got there. Firstly, everything was so huge - cars, food portions, buildings, roads etc. It was my first time in the United States so my first impression was really weird and shocking. For example, distances are enormous. People are used to driving for 6-7 hours straight, which in Europe would be an unreal amount of time. It took me some time to get used to it and it’s actually really satisfying afterwards. People are extremely friendly; when they find out that you are not from America, they want to become friends with you straight away. Chico is definitely a college town where students are laid back, easy-going and that’s why there is always something to do. I’ve met a lot of amazing people that I ended up travelling to Oregon, Nevada, Washington and California.
To sum up, studying abroad changed me a lot. It was really challenging for me as I was the first one to visit Chico State from ºÚÁÏÉçÇø. I knew literally no one there and had to find out everything by myself, which helped me to improve as a person. I realised how self-dependent I became, improved my language skills, found many new interests that I could not even think about in Europe. Despite all the difficulties and barriers that I’ve faced, clear blue sky, amazing palm trees, college life and breathtaking wildlife are going to stay on my mind for my entire life. California was always on my bucket list, and finally, my dreams came true.
