Spring,2011
StudyingAbroadat
NorthCarolinaStateUniversity
Sivendra Michael S11056981 Spring, 2011 Bachelor of Commerce The University of the South Pacific Acknowledgements
A big thank you to the following people for all their contribution in making this exchange trip a
dream come true for me.
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The U.S.P Student Exchange Committee for selecting me to represent U.S.P at North Carolina
State University, USA, and for giving me this wonderful opportunity.
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Special thanks to International Student Exchange Committee for helping me throughout the
entire placement process and for the assistance whilst on exchange.
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My sincere thanks to Sala Vakalala, who guided me along every in preparing for this trip
and making this possible. Vinaka vaka levu Sala.
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Multi Ethnic Affairs for the support and approval of the Student Exchange Scheme
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Mr. Adam Steckler, the Exchange Coordinator at NC State, for organizing such wonderful
events every week for the exchange students.
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My wonderful family for encouraging and inspiring me to strive for greater heights. Special
thanks to my sister and family in USA , Nisheel and Nathan Marshall for financial support.
Also Special thanks to Nate Rooth and his family for being such host whilst on exchange…
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My wonderful second family, who became great friends in such a short time!! Richard Evers,
Adauto Lozano, Marco Vindois, Fernando Lopez, Jason Lee, Alex Martin, Kaisa Lydman,
Madison Sauls, Vitya Meiko, Seb Dupont, John Wise, Sara and Lucero, Beatriz Maria Gomez,
Kelly Bischof, Gaetan Kerdraon, Lucas Johnson and not forgetting the most awesome
residential hall - Alexander Global Village.
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And most importantly, to God Almighty, for making the best thing in life happen..!!
Photo 1 : The exchange students from all over the world – Trip to Washington .D.C
Photo 2:
After watching a NC State Versus Clemson University Basketball Game…
WOLFPACK!!
Getting to the land of Apples: North Carolina
Never had I stepped on a plane but had always dreamt of it someday. Well guess what, The
Student Exchange Scheme Committee just made my dream a reality. As I received the news of
being selected to represent USP as an exchange student to any American University of my
choice, I was so overwhelmed that I could not hold back my tears of joy. Calling my parents to
give them the best news I had ever received in my entire lifetime just made me feel so happy.
Well as the semester went by, all I had was weeks of preparation and visions of just going to
America. There was weeks of research and wide range of choices but finally I had come to a
conclusion that I was going to the Raleigh, North Carolina. Time had flown away and just as it
happened it was my turn to leave. With so much of enthusiasm, I was definitely ready to
experience this new world. For me it was an adventure of a lifetime. As I arrived at Nadi
International Airport to board my flight on this enormous aircraft, I knew that this was it...
Arriving into Los Angeles International Airport for me was like wow…. Is this really happening?
All I saw was skyscrapers, Hollywood sign, and big landscapes filled with beautiful houses. The
excitement just kept on growing. After 18hours of layover, I was ready to board my connecting
flight to Chicago and then to Raleigh, North Carolina. I arrived at 5pm and all I saw around me
was flurry white land covered with layers of snow.
As I walked out of the airport, I felt this totally different atmosphere and the weather was -11
degrees Celsius. Hoping it was warmer but then again I had never seen snow, it was so pretty…
As I arrived to North Carolina State University, the size of the campus just amused me, it was so
big that I was already thinking about where my classes would be held.
As I arrived, I was welcomed by the staff that guided me along the procedures and then
escorted me to meet with the other exchange students. There were 34 exchange students from
all around the universe and some even coming from Antarctica. We all lived in ALEXANDER
GLOBAL VILLAGE… the residential hall where every international student was housed with an
American student. This was the best hall and everybody wished to live here. It was just like one
of those college movies, the basement had a 42inch Plasma LCD TV and a Playstation 3 for
everyone to play. We had a kitchen and a laundry room and also a silent study area. Make it
better was that every weekday we had events in the basement that nearly all residents attended
because of FREE FOOD… and in the weekends the international groups created events and
everybody went out to explore North Carolina. Alexander Global village was my second home,
everybody was so loving and caring and it was just amazing how open the people were... BUT
there was one problem, not everyone knew where Fiji was so I had hosted a Cup of Culture and
cooked them Fiji Style BBQ and told them about my awesome country and my university.
We also had ambassadors who had been on exchange previously that helped us explore great
places in North Carolina – Our so called personal guides..!!
The residents of Alexander Global Village
Presenting the Cup of Culture…
Everybody wants to come to USP now,
as they all want to study under a
Bure…
One of the World’s Best University – North Carolina State University.
The first day at NC State University assured me again that the decision to apply for student
exchange was the best decision that I had undertaken in my life.
My classes were a 30minute walk away from each other, but we had our own university
transport services- Wolf line. http://ncsu.transloc.com
The best thing about NC State Campus was the Cafeteria, there was so many to choose from
and it was all you can eat. We had different menus everyday and the food was delicious.
Every class had 30 to 35 students and attendance was mandatory, which was really good
because if you missed more than 5 classes you automatically fail the class. Our professors were
like our friends and communication with them was so easy. They had always encouraged us to
share our point of views. The cool thing was we had clickers to answer the questions and if you
had laptops in class and decided to use facebook, they could track you automatically.
The most beautiful building on NC State Campus was D. H. Hill Library and everybody just loved
hanging out there. It had cafeteria inside and was open 24 hours. We had common rooms
where we had huge LCD TV and video games of all types. It also has this ice-cream shop inside
which served free ice-cream to all library users. On the 9th floor, you could see the sunset and I
used to always hang out there when I felt like studying. It was just amazing because the library
was so huge. It also had a sleeping place where you could sleep if you decided to study all
night. Imagine such a awesome library, and who wouldn’t want to be there.
Next hangout spot was the campus cinema, every night they screened some of the latest
movies and every time I decided to take a break, I would tag along the other internationals to
go watch a movie.
But the coolest place was the Carmichael Gym, we would always go swimming and playing
basketball and the facilities were superb.
The Landmark of NC State D.H. Hill Library EXPLORING AMERICA: JUST DO IT
My 6months abroad was only filled with thriller and adventure. It was all about visiting places
and doing stuffs I had never done before.
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Visiting theme parks – Busch Gardens, Carowinds , 6 Flags and the best one was Universal
Studios in Florida.
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I got to visit one of America’s Best Zoo – Greenville Adventure Zoo and also got to visit the
Aquarium of the bay and also the largest zoo in America – San Diego Zoo.
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The best part was watching a Broadway musical in New York – Lion King and visiting
Hollywood
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Having picnic at lakes and going to the water park was one of the few activities which was
done every month and the lake was named after Abraham Lincoln
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For spring break, the international committee organized a trip to Florida where we stayed
in Panama City – the city for all college spring flings’….
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States I had visited whilst I was on exchange:
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South Carolina
New York
New Jersey
North Carolina
Hawaii
Florida
Tennessee
Alabama
Georgia
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Virginia
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West Virginia
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Texas
California
My exchange trip to America has left me with memories that will never be forgotten. Of course,
there was far more to it than can be expressed in this report. If I could live those months as an
exchange student at the NC State all over again, I would definitely go for it!!
My advices to those going on exchange, or thinking about doing so, just go with an open mind!
Be open to new experiences! And in the haste of capturing pictures of every new and exciting
place you see, do not forget to observe the beauty of everything around you, do not forget to
take in the smell and sounds of a new place. Remember how a certain place made you feel,
remember the friends you were with that day. For it is your memories that will give you the
greatest satisfaction.
AWESOME MEMORIES .. : In San Francisco with my exchange friends: GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE Trying to save money, so we all used the dryer at one time…. Location: Carowinds Theme Park : Charlotte, North Carolina Wearing NC State Colors as we about to watch our varsity team play against our rivals DUKE