Joshua – Michigan State University – USA
Semester 2, 2024
Bachelor of Business / Bachelor of Communication
Hi, my name is Josh and for as long as I can remember I have wanted to do an exchange semester in America, due to a love of US sports and the culture surrounding living on a college campus. With really no preference on a particular college, already owning a Michigan State t-shirt was reason enough for me to put that school as my number 1 choice, and boy was that the best decision I could’ve made. Located in the heart of Michigan, East Lansing is a full-on college town with unbelievable facilities, a rich history and an undeniably loud and proud fan base. As an aspiring sports journalist, it was a dream destination.
Michigan State athletics is no joke, and I discovered that within the first week, when the first football game of the season, against a relatively small school, still saw a crowd of 75,000 pile into Spartan Stadium, which was hard to comprehend having come from QUT. Each section of the stadium alternated between the schools two main colours to create an aesthetically beautiful backdrop, and the cheers from within the student section, in particular the trademark “Go Green, Go White” chant, will be imprinted in my brain forever. Hoops was my main sport while I was at school, and it was incredible to be in an environment where the sport was so profound, led by legendary head coach Tom Izzo, with basketball legends such as Magic Johnson, Jason Richardson, Draymond Green and current NBA all star Jaren Jackson Jr all being MSU Alumni’s.
MSU also offers an array of classes that you just wouldn’t be able to study at universities in Australia. One of my favourite classes was a broadcasting class, where the classroom could easily be mistaken for a channel 10 news studio, and assignments consisted of weather reports and news desk pieces all in front of studio cameras, which I felt was an amazing way to introduce students into the real world of the industry. Not to mention the fact that the teachers are extremely qualified and helpful, with one of my teachers having accumulated 40 Emmy’s in his journalism career, while also working 10+ years as a co-anchor on good morning Dallas, one of the top markets in the country. It was professors and learning environments like this that felt different to other institutions in the world, and for me personally it really aided my learning and subsequently my grades, as I ended the semester with a 3.8 GPA. But while they study hard, they also party hard with frat parties, tailgates and college bar life being pretty similar to what you see on tv, with those memories being some of my favourite moments from the trip.
It was also an experience socially that I don’t think can compare to anything else. I chose to live on campus to get the full college experience, which opened up so many avenues for me to create friendships and to really involve myself in uni life with things like clubs, intramural (social) sports, and just random pop up events. It was these friends I met on campus that, taught me how to shoot clay, ice skate (something you definitely need to know if you’re going to have fun in the freezing Michigan winter), taught me how to drive on the other side of the road, or even as simple as inviting me home for thanksgiving. While you may only get to know these people for a few months, you end up spending every second of every day with them, so you get to know them a lot better than you think you might, and in my case, I made such good friendships that a few of them flew over to Australia to see me, only 3 months after I left them, and we are already planning further global trips to catch up again. All in all, it was an experience of a lifetime, and something that I would wholeheartedly recommend to everyone.
Find out more on how you can apply: Student Exchange
