Back to it

My first day back for spring semester at Penn State began far too early.  Yawning, I showered in my new dorm, shuffled through the bombsite which had become my suitcase for some clothes before heading to my first class of the semester – international political economics. 

After an incredible winter break seeing my family and travelling to the UK the reality of being back at school in chilly Pennsylvania has been difficult to accept.  Not only do I have back to school blues, but almost all my friends from last semester are no longer here – having either transferred to other campus’s or returned home from their semester abroad.  The unfortunate reality is that I have lost a huge part of what Penn State meant to me overnight and I have been spending more time alone than I did in the entirety of last semester ( down huh ? )

However, some exciting changes have happened.

I have finally moved onto a dorm on campus with a lovely American roommate Brittney. Now that I am on campus I also get a meal card with prepaid meal dollars. Every time that I go and eat at the dining halls on campus I use these meal dollars to pay and receive a 65% discount on food.  The options at Penn State are much more diverse than at my hall at VUW – we can choose from salads, noodles, sandwiches, burgers, fries, sushi or a more traditional cooked meal and unlimited ice cream.

I haven’t really discussed where I lived last semester because myself and the other exchange students from New Zealand had a lot of difficulties our accommodation. I didn’t want prospective exchange students to read my complaints and be deterred from applying because of my experience. All exchange students at Penn State are guaranteed on campus housing (i.e. dorms) when a contract is signed with the university.  However, for fall 2016 Penn State accepted too many students and thus had far too many students for the number of beds they had available.  As a result some exchange students – including myself and all the students from New Zealand were told to find their own accommodation off-campus a month before we headed to the USA. 

This meant a lot of sleepless nights scrolling through housing pages on Facebook and panicked phone calls to my parents.  Although I ended up living in a nice apartment with a group of very nice girls from the Middle East I still craved the true American college experience that my friends from Australia, England and the USA who were lucky enough to have on-campus housing were experiencing.

As well as a change in accommodation I have started a new batch of classes, all of which are quite different from what I took last semester. 

This semester I’m taking …

PLSC 412 – International Political Economy

Pretty much what it said it is and similar to macro-economics classes I have taken at home. 

PLSC 442 – American Foreign Policy .

The professor for this class despises Trump and classes so far have revolved around discussing how Trump will be breaking the constitution by swearing the Presidential oath at the inauguration. 

ECON 351 – Money and Banking. 

Even though I don’t really enjoy economics this class doesn’t seem too bad.  Part of our grade comes from taking part in an online stock simulator by buying and selling shares. The person who makes the greatest profit at the end of the semester receives a bonus on their final grade !

CAMS 4 – Introduction to Jewish and Christian studies.

This is just a general education class, which involves reading the bible for homework. Other than that it’s very interesting.

COMM 205 – Gender and Race in the Media. 

So far this is my favourite class.  The lectures are entirely discussion based in which people to share their own experiences with the class.  In addition we have to write a blog post each week with our reactions and thoughts about the discussion in class ( so perfect for me !). 

With so many changes going on it almost seems as though I’m re-starting my year abroad again, albeit without getting constantly lost on campus. However, I’ve decided to take this as a new challenge to broaden my horizons and being more outgoing than I ever have before in order to re-find my footing at Penn State again.   

New York Minute

Well, it’s fair to say that quite a lot has been going on since I wrote my last post. Finals have been revised for ( and thankfully finished), I said goodbye to some of my best friends and my family travelled all the way from New Zealand to see me in State College. 

Whilst my parents were here in the US we spent a week exploring New York City and then spent Christmas in the Catskill mountains in upstate New York.

I have been to New York City a few times now but this was my first time getting to be a real “tourist”. We stayed in an Air Bnb in New Jersey and took the $3 bus to the NYC Port Authority, right next to Times Square each day. 

Pensive pose with Andy Warhol

We went to MOMA where we practically had to drag my sister ( the design student) away from the Andy Warhol exhibition, whilst my younger brother who doesn’t appreciate art spent a lot of time moping in the corner. 

We did the oh so cliché visit to Times Square, complete with cheesy photos and visited Central Park - which is completely out-of-sync with the never ending concrete jungle that is Manhatten.  Following the recommendation of my friend Cam we popped into an Australian café on Upper East Side to warm ourselves up and was transported thousands of miles back home by my first, real mocha and smashed avo toast since I have arrived in the US.  Heaven. 

We also took the ferry to Liberty and Ellis island where we saw the Statue of Liberty and  visited the immigrant arrival centre on Ellis Island where hundreds of thousands of European migrants arrived in the 19th Century.  

Several times in New York my brother and I were stopped or catcalled at for wearing Penn State gear.  One waiter who saw my brothers Penn State sweater said the school was “dope”, whilst a couple yelled We Are at me in the middle of Chelsea markets.  On another occasion a haggler in Times Square yelled out to me about being kissed by the coach at Penn State.

The sense of pride people have in having attended Penn State ( or any college) for that matter still amazes me.  We just don’t have the same sense of school spirit in New Zealand and I think that's kind of sad. We should feel pride in where we come from and the choices we make. I  have a connection with Penn State students and alumni in a way I don't have with my peers at VUW back home.  

Penn State and Manhatten

We then drove to the Boiceville in Upstate New York where we spent Christmas in an idyllic colonial house surrounded by snow, trees and a lake.  Christmas Day was spent eating dinner, mince pies and Christmas pudding and devouring books.  

It was a really fun visit to New York and of course being able to share with my family was even more special.  So, thank you Mum and Dad for making the gigantous effort to visit me in the US - I know you read this blog, so I hope I have done our time in New York justice ( albeit brief).  

Pearson family take New York