Last month, 16 students from my city planning program and one of our professors had a chance to go to New Orleans for the National Planning Conference (NPC18). Thanks to SDSU (we won part of a Student Success Fee grant) we were lucky to attend this important event in our field! Having a lot of stress before all finals and graduation, we enjoyed the chance to relax under New Orleans sun.
Continue reading “Getting a Taste of Europe Without Leaving the States”
A couple of days ago I was talking with my groupmates about the future. We are supposed to graduate this May and we were discussing our plans. One girl said that she declined a job opportunity from a company in San Diego in order to return to the Bay Area to live closer to her family. She said that she wants family support; she loves adventures and traveling, but she prefers to be more of a homebody.
I was surprised by it, because in our field it is hard to find a good full-time job. However, on the other hand it is understandable. Finding your comfort zone is very important to succeed in life — especially when your relatives support you.
However, I’ve always thought that challenging yourself is the main point to be successful in this life. As a Russian international student, I live thousands of miles from my family, my best friends, my lovely room and my comfy bed. And I do not regret it. I got so much experience and new skills in every aspect of life, that I would not change even a bit of my current life.
I’ve been thinking a lot about writing this post. The reason is simple: Before I moved to the United States, I always thought about the ways of life in Russia and the US as being similar. However, that was a big mistake.
It turns out that, in one very big way, people here are way different than people in the country where I was born and raised.
“The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I received it.” —Hubert Humphrey
I want to dedicate this post to a simple but very important thing: friendship. Moving to another country, I left all my friends in Russia. I still chat with them, but sometimes you need someone around — a person with whom you can hang out, go to watch movies or celebrate something.
I’m about halfway through my study abroad experience and already I have learned a lot from my time in Spain, especially when it comes to my lifestyle and health. Before leaving for Spain I think I had a well balanced life, giving work, school and my health equal attention. I knew studying abroad would change my lifestyle, but I was determined to stay healthy and continue my balanced life.
Continue reading “Staying mentally and physically healthy while abroad”
The global experience, as told by SDSU students 