{"id":9193,"date":"2021-01-29T10:00:23","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T00:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/?p=9193"},"modified":"2020-12-03T10:20:01","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T00:20:01","slug":"south-carolina-an-experience-that-made-saying-goodbye-so-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2021\/01\/29\/south-carolina-an-experience-that-made-saying-goodbye-so-hard\/","title":{"rendered":"An Experience that Made Saying Goodbye so Hard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Candice \u2013 University of South Carolina \u2013 USA<\/h3>\n

Semester 1, 2020
\nBachelor of Laws (Honours) \/ Bachelor of Media and Communication<\/h4>\n

In the first semester of my fourth year of university, I studied abroad at the University of South Carolina (USC) in Columbia, South Carolina. <\/span>I knew a few people who had gone to\u00a0<\/span>USC<\/span>, and after hearing about their experiences, I knew that\u00a0<\/span>it\u00a0<\/span>was the perfect choice for\u00a0<\/span>me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Accommodation<\/h4>\n

I flew out to Columbia on January 9<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a02020<\/span>, after many stressful events including having to fly to Melbourne for my visa appointment<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Upon arrival, after my <\/span>20 hour<\/span>\u00a0trip, I was placed in the wrong room and had to spen<\/span>d<\/span>\u00a0the night in a free room next door while they sorted out\u00a0<\/span>my\u00a0<\/span>new accommodation<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The next day, I was re-allocated to a room in Green Quad.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I would highly recommend staying in one of the Quads (Green, South or East)<\/span>\u00a0if you can<\/span>, as you get your own (albeit, tiny) room,\u00a0<\/span>and you share a kitchen and two bathrooms between four people. However, it\u00a0<\/span>was\u00a0<\/span>pretty expensive ($4,595 USD for the semester), so that\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>something to<\/span>\u00a0consider.\u00a0<\/span>Originally,\u00a0<\/span>I had only two roommates from Pennsylvania and South Carolina,\u00a0<\/span>but after three weeks the Housing Office were kind enough to allow my friend from New Zealand to move in. I was really lucky with my roommates as we all got along really well, but many of my friends didn\u2019t see theirs often<\/span>!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Student Life<\/h4>\n

Before I left for exchange, I signed up to the USC Global Gamecock Guide program, which matches each inco<\/span>m<\/span>ing exchange student with a USC student who has also studied abroad. I was matched with Katie, a girl from New York who had studied abroad in Florence. She quickly became one of my best friends and my experience on exchange would have been completely different if I hadn\u2019t <\/span>met her. I would highly recommend signing up to this progra<\/span>m<\/span>!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I was one of only two Australian girls on exchange at USC that semester, and the other girl had already been there for the fall semester.\u00a0<\/span>However, I\u2019m\u00a0<\/span>actually glad that there weren\u2019t more Australians as I\u00a0<\/span>quickly\u00a0<\/span>became friends with not only Americans but people from all over the world including New Zealand, England<\/span>, Scotland,\u00a0<\/span>and Finland.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was lucky to be able to use my law electives while I was on exchange, and I chose to take\u00a0<\/span>Criminal Procedure, American National Government,\u00a0<\/span>Voices of America and University 101. They were all really enjoyable and extremely easy compared to classes at QUT<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0I also found the class environment to be much friendlier and\u00a0<\/span>more\u00a0<\/span>laid back than at home.\u00a0<\/span>I would highly recommend anyone going on exchange at USC to take University 101 – it\u2019s the easiest class imaginable (with 25% of the grade being attendance) and I don\u2019t think they give anyone lower than an A!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n