The Life of an Exchange Student

After four planes, two delays, and a layover in Canada, I finally arrived in America 24 hours later than expected. I hadn’t eaten anything in 32 hours, apart from the cardboard food they now serve on planes. I was tired, hungry and nervous! After catching the Lafayette Limo, I was dumped outside the PMU with all my suitcases and told to find the residence halls myself. Luckily I live in Hawkins, so I did not have to walk far.

Once I arrived, I was given a key. I didn’t know where to get food from; where to sign up for BGR; where my RA was; how to get a bank account; buy a mobile phone; how to sort out internet; and where anything was on campus. Believe me, all these seemingly simple things become immensely difficult when you are alone in a foreign country. At this point, I was about to pack it all in, but to make matters worse, I opened my suitcase to discover my toothpaste had leaked all over my ‘goodbye cards’ and photographs from my friends and family. So I sat in my room and cried. Sounds pathetic I know, but all I wanted to do was go home and erase the last 32 hours from my memory. Luckily my story does get better.

An exchange student is somewhat different to an international student who comes to Purdue as a freshman. Exchange students have already studied in their home country for a couple of years and then they go abroad to study for a year and finish their degree back in their home country. There are many exchange students here at Purdue from all over the globe, and likewise many Purdue students have gone abroad to study.

There is a society called Passport, which is for all exchange students, and it meets informally every Friday. You can check out the group on Facebook. It is not just for international exchange students but also Americans who have studied abroad and/or who are thinking of doing so. This is a great way to meet people from the same country as yo, or from the country you are planning to study at.

We all embark on this ‘study abroad’ adventure with high hopes. We get excited about making lots of new friends, joining different societies and embracing the different cultures, but we forget about the realities, the things that are left out of the ‘study abroad’ handbook! Sometimes it is the little insignificant differences that you are unprepared for which make life difficult. For example, in England lemonade is Sprite, elevators are called lifts, sidewalks obviously pavements, cell phones are mobile phones, rain boots are known as wellington boots, and pants are of course trousers!

Please, don’t get me wrong, I love it here; the people are very friendly, the university resources are amazing and the amount of clubs and societies you can join is incredible. I am having the time of my life and I am so lucky to have had this opportunity to study in America for a year. I have only been here for six weeks, but I have experienced so many fantastic things thanks to the exchange programme at Purdue. For example, I saw my first American football match here; had my first ‘pop quiz’; drank from those famous solo cups; visited the wonder that is Wal-Mart (and it is true, you really can buy everything there); did the fountain run; ate biscuits and gravy (which won’t be repeated).

However, the one thing that is missing from this whole experience is the fact that it is not home. Every day, I am constantly reminded that I am international and sometimes all I want to do is fit in. I love talking about England and being an exchange student, because I think it is a fantastic opportunity that I want everyone to experience. However, sometimes I would like people to ask me ‘what music I like’ and ‘what I do in my spare time’ rather than what music is like in England, because my tastes and a whole country’s tastes are not going to be the same.

To fully understand what it is like to be an exchange student you have to live it, because words cannot do the experience justice. It is, without question, the hardest things I have done in my life, but at the same time, it is the most rewarding thing. To say that you have lived in another country by yourself, and embraced their culture, is one of the proudest feelings you will ever feel. All the difficult times have been over shadowed by the fantastic experiences and friends I have made. I truly am having the time of my life and, apart from my initial arrival, I would not have changed anything.

I urge everyone to study abroad because you not only discover different cultures, but you also discover yourself. It is only when you are taken from everything and everyone that you know where you truly find out what makes you tick. It is not too late, if you want to share my experiences, go to the study abroad office and sign up. It will be the most amazing adventure you will ever experience, and it will look excellent on your resume. So do something exciting and study abroad!