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SEP to Georgia, U.S.
July 2, 2017
Tan Ke Tian
The Student Exchange Program (SEP) to the University of Georgia (UGA), United States has brought my life new insights, experiences and friends from all over the world that I could not have met in NUS. It is not just about enjoying a different culture and making new friends, it is also an important switch in my life, allowing me to have fun while learning.
Classes at UGA
Taking chemistry in NUS can be tough and content heavy, and generally, the lecturers are providing most of the learning material. In UGA, professors expect students to read the literature and textbooks to gain more knowledge of the classes through self-study. The lectures are pretty short (2.5 h per week) compared to NUS (4 h per week), and the professors are usually just doing a brief introduction of the topic. To ace in the papers, after class self-revision and in depth reading is a must!
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The class sizes are much smaller than those of NUS (The largest class size in UGA that I had attended was 50; the smallest was 12) and they encourage in-class discussion amongst peers and with lecturers. With such learning experience, I find learning chemistry through in-depth self-study, peer discussion, active participation in small classroom settings and questioning lecturers beneficial for better understanding. Hence, I am a more proactive chemistry student now after returning from SEP and I do get better scores!
Besides chemistry modules, I chose other interesting modules in food nutrition, such as “Human Nutrition and Food” and “Introduction to Sports Nutrition and Wellness”. I learnt about the relationship between intake of food and practice of sports to health. Interestingly, I also found out how to read the food labels correctly and identify beneficial sports dietary supplements. Now I am definitely a smarter customer in grocery shopping because the products can cheat me no more!
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Stepping out of my Comfort Zone
Since the lectures are short, we usually have the rest of the long day for ourselves. To make friends with locals and dip myself in the U.S. culture, I went for a part-time job in the school dining hall. It was definitely tiring to stand from 4.15 p.m. to 9.45 p.m. and clean up the dining hall, but I really met great colleagues and friends! They were really friendly and I managed to take photos with one of the student managers before leaving. One of my colleagues even fetched me back to my hostel after work since the first day we met in the dining hall. These are the people I would never forget and will really miss a lot after leaving U.S.
"The nationalities of the people I met during SEP are uncountable, and the friendships built unbreakable."
Going exchange allows me to meet people from dynamic social and cultural backgrounds. Being different from my previous friends, I have to step out of my comfort zone and be open-minded with various different cultures, such as Japanese, Koreans, Austrians, Germans, British, Hawaiians, Europeans etc. Going Halloween house party, a weekend night out at the downtown restaurant with friends, taking bus to the groceries in the U.S. (Walmart, Target, Kroger), travelling to other cities - all of them delighted my 4-month stay in the U.S. The nationalities of the people I met during SEP are uncountable, and the friendships built unbreakable.
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In short, I have never regretted going SEP because it changed my personality, my perspective of life, broadened my social networks and thinking horizon. Going SEP is definitely not just about travelling, but also the people you meet, and the insights you gain.
