ANR: 572838
Name: Yentl Fuchs
E-mail: y.a.m.fuchs@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: fall 2014
Academic year: 3rd academic year
Host University: Bellarmine University
Country: United States of America
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Bellarmine University is a private university and thus a very small school with about 3500
students. Bellarmine University has 2585 undergraduate students and 1024 post graduate
students and in fall 2014 about 25 international students. In the spring there were only 4
international students left, which were students who stayed two semesters. So, I would
recommend to go in Fall. Bellarmine University is placed in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville is
the capital city of Kentucky. A very American city. Bellarmine University is located in the
center of Louisville. Bellarmine University is a very personal university. Teachers really know
their students and there is much interaction in lectures.
If you go to study at Bellarmine University as an exchange student, you are required to live on
campus. I would recommend Anniversary building or Sienna Terzo when they ask you where
you want to live. I lived in Anniversary building and I really liked that building. The residents
halls are located next to the campus. It is about 5 minutes walking from your room to your
lectures.
It is normal in The States to live with a roommate. This is also the case at Bellarmine
University. You live together with a roommate which is an American who has chosen to live
with an international students or with another international student. I have experienced a
roommate as very enjoyable. When you roommate is studying and you have no lectures you
have some space for yourself and in the evening you can enjoy the nice things of having a
roommate.
When studying at Bellarmine University and living on campus, you get a meal-plan. With that
meal-plan you can eat on campus every day. Bellarmine University has a dining hall which is
all you can eat. With your Bellamine card you can eat there. At the dining hall they serve
lunch, dinner every day and brunch in the weekends. The dining hall has a big variety of food.
Louisville is known as horse city. Churchill downs is a nice museum where you can go. This is
a horse race museum, at some evening you can also bet on horses. This was a very fun,
American experience for me! Next to that, Louisville has a big bridge where you can walk to
the state Indiana, during your walk you have beautiful sights left and right. Mohammed Ali
center is also placed in Louisville. This is the museum of Mohammed Ali, a very famous
boxer. There is a theatre with musicals and a shopping mall is very close. In the evenings
you can go to Shenanigans, which is a café/bar very close to campus or you can go to Fourth
Street, which is a street with clubs. In short, enough to do in Louisville!
The biggest difference for me was the public transport. The public transport is not very good
in The States. There is a bus which stops at Bellarmine University but the bus is not very
reliable and doesn’t stop by very often, so most of the times it is better when Americans drive
you to some places. Luckily, Americans are very hospitable and are always ready to bring you
anywhere.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The pre-arrival information arrived very late. I had my DS-2019 document, 3 weeks before
departure. All the students had the same problem and the IPO department had already made
a Facebook page for all the international students. So, it was a relief that everyone had the
same problems.
With all the other questions I had to the IPO department, I got really quick responses. In less
than 24 hours they always responded my e-mails, which was amazing.
Visa procedure and arrival
To go to The States you need a visa. Dependent on how long you want to stay there are more
specifics. If you want to stay just a semester, you need the DS-2019 document. It was a long
process. It would be good if you visit the embassy site as soon as you know that you are
going. You have to complete a lot of documents before you can visit the embassy. To go to
the embassy you need some documents from your host university, Bellarmine University. If
you start with the surveys on time, you can make immediately an appointment with the
embassy when you have your documents of the host university.
You have to pay a 100 dollar (about 80 euro’s) fee. And in the end, if everything is okay and
they allow you to go to The States, you have to pay 200 dollar (about 160 euro’s) for your
actual visa.
The arrival is very good organized. The IPO department of Bellarmine has a lot of peer
mentors. When you fly to Louisville, Kentucky, there will be 2 or more peer mentors to pick
you up from the airport and bring you to campus. They will also make sure that you can go to
Walmart of Target to buy groceries, a blanket, a pillow and so on. After my peer mentors
picked me up, we went to Target to get stuff and after that we ordered pizza and had dinner
together. The peer mentors will also help you to check in on campus and bring you to your
room. They are like your butlers haha, they will take care of everything. Probably, they will
also contact you in advance, when you are still in The Netherlands, to make you feel
comfortable and to answer questions that you have.
The peer mentors as well as the IPO department were well prepared for my arrival.
Orientation/introduction activities
The first week there is an orientation program. There are some activities to get to know the
internationals and there are some trips to downtown Louisville, Churchill downs derby
museum, Mohammed Ali Center and some more places. During those days, you get to learn
the big road in Louisville, Bardstown road, the peer mentors will show you around here
together with the other Internationals.
Housing
As I already said briefly, you are going to live on campus. This is very well organized. The
give you a bed, a closet, a desk with a lot of drawers, a microwave, a sink and a fridge. You
will share your bathroom, with four people. In the bathroom there is a shower and a toilet. You
can also make us of washing machines and dryers for free and you get a sports card for free.
Your accommodation is booked in advance, they will ask you in a survey where you would
like to stay. As I said before I would recommend Anniversary building or Sienna Terzo. I was
totally satisfied with the accommodation, it are very big rooms (about 35 m2) and they are
clean. Housing will cost about 2500 euro’s for a semester.
Living costs
I spent most of my money on food. I wanted to try all the different foods that America has to
offer. And I would definitely do it again! It is great to taste all the different types and kinds of
food that there is in America. Personally, I really liked the Asian food, which is very different
than Asian food in The Netherlands.
Outline of my monthly budget whilst on exchange:
- Housing: 625 euro’s
- Food: 350 euro’s (inclusive all the meals on campus, for which you pay with your
meal-plan)
- Transport: almost nothing, because Americans drive you everywhere
- Books: 100 euro’s
- Miscellaneous: some groceries and clothes (150 euro’s each month, depends on how
much stuff you buy and how many clothes you want to buy in The States)
Academic Calendar
I arrived the 12th of August and the introduction started the 14th. The semester started the
21st of August. There was a fall break 11-14 October. There was a Thanksgiving break 26-30
November.
The International Office
There is an International office at Bellarmine University, a IPO department. The IPO is very
well organized. Bridget Klein, Sara Reyna-Byler and Gabrielle Bosley are responsible for
incoming exchange students. I was very satisfied with the IPO department.
Exchange promotion
There was organized an exchange meeting for people who want to go on exchange. In that
meeting I promoted Tilburg University.
Social Activities
There are a lot of social activities organized for students at Bellarmine University. Bellarmine
University has a lot of sports teams, you can join all the games for free, because you are a
student. I really enjoyed the basketball matches. Next to that there are floor meetings,
bingo’s, stress decreasing activities during midterms and finals and a lot of more activities.
I had a lot of contact with American students. They take you everywhere, they are fun to hang
out with, they show you good places for food but also beautiful places of Louisville and you
can have lectures with them. The whole international groups was kind of one big family. We
are still in contact with a lot of people, which is very nice. We are making plans now to visit
each other!
I traveled a lot! I have been to Nashville, Chicago, New York, Orlando, Miami and Memphis.
All the places were great and I would really recommend them. I was planning on going to
Canada, but I didn’t had any money left so, fortunately, I couldn’t go to Canada.
You can travel during holidays but you can also ask your teachers to get some days off, they
are really willing to look for some solutions with you if you miss some classes (almost all
classes are required, but they make exceptions for international students).
Culture and Language
I did not really experience a culture shock. The biggest shock was the lack of public
transportation. There are a lot of similarities in the Dutch and the American culture. Of course
there are some differences, the Americans are friendlier, but in general I cannot name very
big differences.
On exchange, I learned that the Dutch culture is very direct, while Americans are less direct in
what they say. I would describe the American culture as hostile, friendly and food-lovers. At
every event, there is food. They try to get more people for an event by giving free food. What I
liked less is the sentence: “Hi, how are you?”, for me that was fake. They don’t really expect
you to tell them when you are not doing very well.
I didn’t have any language problems with the faculty of other students. Sometimes, my
sentences are still not grammatically correct, but almost always they understand what I mean.
Before departure, I followed the course: English for the Future. I didn’t follow any Erasmus
intensive Language Course.
Personal Development
I think the whole exchange experience will influence in the way you think about political and
social issues. You learn a lot about different countries, cultures and norms and values. You
learn to look from a different point of view.
I learned a lot of people that I met during my exchange. I learned from the American’s as well
as the international students. I learned more about people and cultures than from the courses
that I took. I wouldn’t really do anything different if I could do my exchange again, the only
thing I would do different is to meet even more Americans.
My best experience was Thanksgiving at the family of my roommate. Inclusive black Friday
shopping and watching American Football. This was an amazing American experience. The
worst experience was sometimes how fake some Americans can be.
I will never forget the friendly Americans and how they will always be there for you and want
to take you everywhere. The travel trips I made are also, lifetime experiences.
The most important lesson that I learned about myself is that I am actually very Dutch and
very direct in the way I say things.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
The courses that are offered at Bellarmine University are all in English. I took Advertising,
Organizational Communications, Interpersonal Communications and Social Psychology. I
took those course because I likes the course descriptions. Interpersonal Communications is
the only course which I wouldn’t take again. It was very easy, which made it quite boring. I
would definitely recommend Advertising, this is a great course. The teacher is great and he
still works in an advertising office which makes it really interested.
I think the academic level of courses at Bellamine University is easier compared to the
academic level of courses at Tilburg University. You have to make homework, which we are
not really used to, so it is sometimes more as if you are in high school, but the material/theory
that you learn is definitely easier and less.
The teaching style is practical as well as theoretical. It depends on the course if it is more
practical or more theoretical. At Bellarmine University, you have a lot of case studies (for
almost every course), you have group work (for some courses) and almost every lecture is
interactional with the teacher. The relationship between students and the staff is very
informal. The teachers are really interested in your personal life and are always there for you
and will always help you. I am happy with my academic results in The States, it is easier, so it
is also easier to get high grades.
Exams
I had only written exams. One open book exam and all the other exams were in class.
Other
The library resources have very easy access. They don’t have a system to reserve
computers, but there is are a lot of computers and I never experienced that I couldn’t have a
computer. Next to that, you can rent books and movies in the library.
Description of Courses
Course name
Course level
COMM – 302
3rd year BA
Interpersonal
Communication
COMM – 307
3rd year BA
Advertising
COMM – 311
Organizational
communication
PSYC – 317-02
Social
Psychology
Pre-requisitions
None
Exam
Written
ECTS
6
Approved as
Minor course
None
Open book
(final)
Written
(mid-term)
Written
6
Minor course
6
Elective course
Written
6
Minor course
3rd year BA
None
3rd year BA
PSYC – 317-01, I
had introduction
in social
psychology at
Tilburg University,
which was fine
Tips for the future student:
I would definitely recommend an exchange period for every student. It really opens your eyes,
and it is really cool to live in another country for one semester. I would also recommend
Bellarmine University, it is a great University with good facilities and good teachers. Don’t
forget to start on time with visa requirements etc., because it takes a lot of time and can cost
you some stress. I would read a lot about the city and about the culture before departing, but
don’t be to stressed, at Bellarmine University, everything is very well organized. So, the
Americans will make sure that you have a great time!
A picture is worth a thousand words
Blog
I kept a blog with pictures during my exchange. If you would like to read that you can go to
this link an read my experiences: http://www.reislogger.nl/locatie/verenigde-staten/louisville39882.
Contact details:
If you have any questions, about whatever subject, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
You can contact me at: y.a.m.fuchs@tilburguniversity.edu or yentl_fuchs@hotmail.com.