All about: Summer Classes

By Julia Zaremba

School might be the last thing you want to think about during summer break, but summer classes are an amazing opportunity to get some extra credits! If you had to drop a class or took less credits this past year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and online learning, taking a summer course can be a great way to catch up! Taking a summer class may also mean you can have a lighter course load in a future semester.

There are three main types of summer classes: four-week, six-week, and twelve-week. Since summer courses are condensed into a shorter time period than a normal semester, they tend to be more fast-paced. Not to worry though, it’s certainly doable with some time-management skills, which you can read about here!

Classes are staggered throughout the summer, so you can take multiple classes that don’t overlap (or only overlap for a short period). The schedule for Summer 2021 is pasted below. For example, you could take a 4W1 class and a 4W3 class without them overlapping at all.

6W1	Six Week 1	May 24 – July 2, 2021
6W2	Six Week 2	June 21 – July 30, 2021
6W3	Six Week 3	July 6 – August 13, 2021
6W4	Six Week 4	June 28 – August 6, 2021
4W1	Four Week 1	May 24 – June 18, 2021
4W2	Four Week 2	June 21 – July 16, 2021
4W3	Four Week 3	July 19 – August 13, 2021
12W	Twelve Week	May 24 – August 13, 2021
MIN	Non-standard dates

UAlbany is offering an array of classes this summer. Whether you want to fulfill a specific degree requirement, take the opportunity to try out a new elective, or focus all your attention on a challenging course, summer classes are a great choice. Registration is currently open, and the schedule of classes can be found here. You should have received an email back in March titled “Undergraduate Education: Summer Registration Information” with the AVN you need to register. Summer classes do tend to cost more than classes during the regular fall or spring semester, with tuition and fees totaling $1,015.27 for a three-credit course for NYS residents.

If you are interested in taking a summer class, I encourage you to reach out to your advisor. You can also always stop by our Peer Advising Zoom hours with any questions!

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Preparing for Exams

By Lindsey Shibley

            Midterms and exams can be a stressful time in the semester! But they do not have to be. Hopefully, these tips can help you ace your exams. Some key tips that have helped me include: staying up-to-date on all of my coursework (especially asynchronous classes!) and communicating with my Professor. Let’s take a deep dive into some tried-and-true exam prep tips:

1. Do not wait until the last minute to look over the material for the exam.  If you are waiting until the last possible day, you may feel more stressed and anxious about the amount of material that you have to memorize.
2. There are times in my own personal life, that I sit down to study for an exam and I have no idea where to start studying, so I have learned to focus on main ideas and objectives and then branch out and find out why each objective is important.
3. Check your syllabus for when your Professors hosts Office Hours, so you can reach out for help when you need it.   In some classes, if you attend your professor’s office hours, you may receive extra credit in your course! At the very least, you can get to know your Professor better.
4. Make friends in your classes, and possibly set up a group chat to discuss the assignments for your class.
5. College is not just about studying for the next exam, spending time on your own personal mental health is essential.  It is important to take a step back and attend an in person or virtual trivia night, or attend a Great Dane sporting event.
6. Remember: all classes require your attention! Do not forget about your classes that are asynchronous or hybrid.
7. Attend your classes! Sometimes before an exam, your class will have in-person review sessions, and you can ask questions there too! 
8. Make sure that you have a separate space to study, beside your bed.  Make sure that your studying space is different than your hang out space. This will help you relax when you are not studying.

Good luck on your exams!

Time Management Techniques

Written by Julia Zaremba and Monica Abreu

Time management can be a difficult skill to develop, especially when we are so busy between classes, work, clubs and other activities. But trying out different time management techniques can make a world of difference in getting your work done on time. If you use strategies to focus better while doing schoolwork, you’ll end up having more free time to do things you enjoy! Below are some tips to improve your time management.

1. Pomodoro technique: This technique is life-changing! Essentially, you set a timer for 25 minutes and work the entire time without any distractions, then you set a timer for a 5 minute break, and repeat. After 4 sets, you can take a longer break. This method is great for studying or trying to get work done efficiently. It’s much easier to stay focused when you know that you’ll get a short break once the 25 minutes are up. You can even search it on YouTube and find “study with me” videos that have the timer included.

2. Leave your phone in a different room: It can be hard to separate yourself from your phone, but if you do, you can work much more efficiently without getting distracted. If your phone is right next to you, even if it’s off, you’ll probably still be tempted to check it. Putting it in an entirely separate room can help you forget about it for a while and focus, and you can check it during breaks.

3. Restrict your social media use: It’s definitely worth trying to restrict your access to social media if you tend to check it when you need to do homework. You can set limits on certain apps under the Screen Time setting on iPhones, and there are extensions you can add to your browser to block certain websites on your computer while you’re doing work!

4. Prioritize: Planning out what needs to be done first can help you manage your time better. Try to complete assignments that are due soonest. Everyone works differently, so feel free to try different things to see what works for you! Personally, I like to do easy work before difficult work so that I feel like I’ve made progress. Other people prefer to do more difficult tasks first to get it out of the way. Try out different strategies to see what helps you finish your work and meet deadlines best!

5. Try not to procrastinate: This is much easier said than done, and most us are guilty of procrastinating. That said, overcoming procrastination is a crucial part of time management. If you do your work sooner rather than procrastinating, you’ll probably find that you’re less stressed overall. Instead of constantly having the stress of that assignment in the back of your mind and rushing to finish it at the last minute, you can complete it on time (or early) and be able to do other things without worrying about it!

How to Stay Organized as a College Student:

When entering college I had little to no organization methods, and must admit that my level of organization changes time and time again. Since you are reading this blog I assume that you also have some difficulties in regards to how to stay organized. Let me assure you that staying organized isn’t as difficult as it seems and may even take trying multiple methods to find the one that works for you. You might even realize that increasing your level of organization may even allow you to better manage your time. Can you remember a time where being organized might have allowed you to binge Netflix rather than working on an essay? I’m here to give you a few tips and tricks in order to maximize your college experience and decrease your overall level of stress around assignments that you have may forgotten about.

1. Use a planner/calendar: This may be an overemphasized strategy in regards to staying organized, but it works! I’ve found that writing down what I have to do each week allows me to stay on top of all my assignments; for me it is most helpful to have a physical calendar. However, you may have tried this time and time again and realized that it is just not for you. Another option in regards to using a planner/calendar is using online calendars that can remind you of your upcoming assignments. Such apps that might be helpful are google calendar, tiny calendar, and even the calendar that is already on your phone.
2. Print out your syllabus’s: So maybe using a planner or calendar is just not for you, in that case you might find it helpful to print out each syllabus for each of your courses. More often than not professors provide a calendar at the end of each syllabus that specifies when assignment are due and upcoming quiz/test dates. Thus, you can hang up each calendar provided for you on your wall, refrigerator, or most looked at place to remind you of upcoming assignments. If you don’t want to waste all of that paper another option would be is to visit blackboard on your phone and screenshot all course syllabus’s. You then can compile each syllabus into a specified folder which will allow you to look back at any time to remind you of upcoming assignments.
3. Determine your daily goals: Maybe using a calendar or relying on your syllabus still isn’t for you. In that case it might be helpful to give yourself fifteen minutes of free time in the morning in order to determine what you need to do for the day. You should make your goal list achievable in order to avoid feeling overwhelmed or perhaps disappointed if you aren’t able to finish all of the things you set out to finish. I know sometimes I set goals that are way “over my head”, but it is important to set goals that are in a sense most “urgent”.

The list isn’t extensive, but perhaps touches on what I find most useful and helpful to stay organized. You may find that all of these methods may help you or you might find that none of one method is particularly useful. Ultimately, as a college student you will notice that your organization methods and skills are constantly changing and you’ll just have to find what works best for you.

How to Approach Office Hours

Written by Nadine Al Annabi, ASC Peer Advisor

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” is a quote I refer to whenever I am afraid or anxious about trying something new. The transmission from a small high school to a huge university was a challenge on its own for many of us, and even during our undergraduate careers we have to constantly step outside of our comfort zone and try something new.

“Office hours” are designated times and days that professors, teacher assistants (TA), and faculty member assign for their students; their main motive is to help them.  Before the pandemic, office hours were held in the professor or TA’s office but to maintain the safety of everyone, most of the office hours and meetings are now being held online, over zoom.

Here are some of the benefits of going to your professor’s/TA’s office hours:

• Get clarification or answer to your question:  If you are shy or don’t like to ask a question to your Professor in front of a large class, you can go to office hours and ask your Professor to clarify a certain idea or concept that that you do not really understand from a previous lecture.
• Get feedback on your papers: Some professors and teacher assistants would offer to provide their students with feedback on a paper or project (or a part of it) before they submit it. I’ve had a couple of professors and TAs who did that, and it was very helpful for me to know what to edit or change in my paper before submitting it. If you don’t know if your Professor/TA can provide you with feedback, it’s always safe to ask.
  • A related point is that if you have a long paper to submit by the end of the semester, you can go to office hours and discuss your ideas with your Professor/TA and they can give you suggestions on what to write about or how to structure the paper.
• Make yourself known: Office hours can be used as a way for you to meet your new professor and make yourself known in a class that has over a hundred or two hundred students. It does not always have to be a question; you can just introduce yourself or share your concerns with your professor/TA if you are not doing as well as you’re hoping in their class. A small effort to go to a professor’s office hours shows them that you are a hardworking student, and that you’re trying to make the best out of your college experience and putting in the time to meet with them.
  • Always remember that Professors/TAs are here to help you. Keeping this in mind can make you less nervous to approach your professor or go to their office hours. Trust me they would be glad to talk to you rather than starring at a blank screen on Zoom.
• Build connections and network: Being in college is all about making connections and you can build that connection with your Professor through office hours.
  • When you start applying for internships or jobs, many of them will ask you to provide letters of recommendation or references; you can ask your Professors, who know you as a student and as an ambitious person, to write you that letter.
  • Your professor could work or have worked in a field that you are interested in or they might have pursued a graduate degree that you’re considering (for example, going to law school and getting a Juris Degree). So, through office hours, you’ll be able to learn more about your area of interest from an expert, and your professor can give you advice or make recommendations on where to apply for an internship or how to prepare for law school.

Now that we got to see some of the many benefits and opportunities that come along with Office hours, here are some techniques and strategies that I use to be less anxious about asking for help or going to a Professor’s office hours (in-person or on zoom):

1) Know when office hours are and their location: At the beginning of your semester, highlight or jot down the office hours of each professor you’re taking a class with so that it is easier for you to know when they are and work around your schedule to visit them when needed. It is important to know the location (or now the zoom link) where office hours are held at so that you don’t waste time looking for it.

• It’s important to note that if your Professor or TA’s office hours are held during your classes/work/practice and you can’t make them, you can definitely email your professor and ask them to meet in a different time (it is usually written in the syllabus- for example: Office Hours Monday and Wednesday, and by appointment)

2) Introduce yourself: Before “Zoom University,” I learned to approach my professors after our first class when class ends and just introduce myself, like many students do, so that if and when I need to go to their office hours, they are already familiar with me and my face.

3) Keep in mind that your professors are here for and to help YOU: When you go to office hours, you are allowing your professor/TA to do their job and help you make the best out of their class. 

4) Prepare your questions or the topic you want to discuss: Knowing what you’re asking your Professor/TA about or what you want to talk to them about reduces the awkwardness and silence during the conversation and makes it flow easier.

5) Treat yourself to something you love after going to office hours: You went outside your comfort zone and you deserve that delicious cup of coffee, pizza or ice cream!!

6) REMEMBER: Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of strength: When you ask for help, it means that you are aware of the areas in you that require a bit more work and you’re working hard on yourself to become the best version of yourself.

7) If you are struggling with a class, do not wait! Talk to your Professor: It is important to note that if a class is giving you a hard time, go to office hours and ask your professor for ways to help you improve your grades or techniques to study better. Do not wait till the end of the semester to ask for help, you don’t want it to be too late.

I hope these tips help you like they helped me and remember, if anything, you have nothing to lose from going to office hours. On the contrary, it is known that students who go to office hours are those who thrive and do the best in their classes. Look at everything as a learning experience, at the end of the day, we live and learn 😊

How to Study at UAlbany

Wherever you go, be the best you!

How to study at UAlbany

How is it going everyone? This blog is about my academic experiences at UAlbany.

First of all, I want you to know that no matter why and when you choose to go to UAlbany, you should always remember that education is supposed to be the first priority. College is not only for studying, but studying is the biggest part.

Generally speaking, the education culture is very different between China and the USA. If you are from another country, you may have the same experience as me. Students can have more freedom and rights on campus. You may ask your questions in class whenever you come up with  a new idea or if you are confused. At UAlbany, if you are an exchange student, you may use the first two weeks to try all of the courses that interest you and make your decision freely. I looked up the class schedules on MyUAlbany (UAlbany Student Portal) and researched as many courses as I could during the first two weeks and then finally chose three accounting courses and one community service course.

The first and most difficult challenge for me was the language problem. I still remembered the first day of class, which probably was the worst day of this semester. I found that I could not understand the professor’s speaking most of the time. Everyone else around me was understanding what was going on. I had no idea what was happening when the whole room suddenly burst into laughter at one of the professor’s jokes. Can you imagine how bad it might feel if you were in another world but actually  sitting in the same classroom with everyone else?

Apparently, I needed to do more work after class!

Make best use of your syllabus. Almost every professor will post their course syllabus and other resources on Blackboard. Blackboard is an online studying platform used by UAlbany. Because of this online system,  I could find out the content of the upcoming lecture. I would preview the lectures and look up words in the dictionary to make sure I know what the professor would talk about before every class. Even if you still do not understand some points, you can be more confident to raise your hands and ask the professor your questions in class. After class, I definitely needed to go over all the material again and make my own notes! One thing I recommend doing is to check your Blackboard constantly since your instructor might  post the newest information there and most of the homework or group assignments have different due dates.

Speaking of homework, one thing I would recommend is doing your homework as early as you can. Never leave it until the last day. You can never predict what will happen before the due date.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Project MyStory Student-to-Student Success Series: Fall 2019 Schedule

Another recommendation is to form a study group if you are not a self-disciplined person. There is collaborative area for discussion and also group study rooms for private space.

If you still have problems about studying the course, do not forget the professor’s office hours! Most of the professors here are very nice and helpful. You can always reach out to them by email and make an appointment. Here, I must mention one of the best professors I have ever met. Professor Mark Hughes gave nearly all his time to teaching and supporting students.  He helped me a lot by talking with me and encouraging me to talk with other people. If it were not him, I could not have taken the first step to talk to people here and have so many amazing stories. Before I met him, I just could believe that there could be such a kind person in the world, who is always willing to help with everyone; who will greet and chat with everyone he meets.

The other night, when I was saying goodbye to Jill, one of my candidate classmates in BAP (See previous blog post). We hugged with each other and cried for the farewell. She told me that she loved my personality and that my personality has changed hers. I told her that this was because professor Hughes has changed mine first.

By studying and learning new things every day, I gradually felt that language was no longer a big problem for me. At the end of my semester study, I earned a 3.77 GPA. I am sure if you put your heart into it, any difference between your country and wherever you choose to study should not be a problem. You can do better than you might think.

All right, that is for the study part of UAlbany Please feel free to leave comments below and don’t forget to check out my next and last post!

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Please Note: The views of our student bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the UAlbany Academic Support Center or the Center for International Education and Global Strategy. These are their stories  – their voices.

• UAlbany Education Abroad

• Great Places to Study at UAlbany

• A-PLUS Tutoring and Academic Support

About the Author:

Jade H.
Spring 2019 Exchange Student
Major: Accounting
Blog Theme:
Wherever You Go, Be the Best You

Get Involved

Wherever you go, be the best you!
Be involved as early as you can!

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my blog again. Today I am going to share my experiences about college life at UAlbany. If you are an incoming new student, you can learn how to get involved on campus.  If you are not, you can also get some ideas about how to make more friends in a new environment.

University at Albany is a place that never lets you feel dull！ There are more than 200 student organizations on campus covering various kinds of academics, hobbies, and cultures.  You can find whichever interests you most on the  MyInvolvement  website and apply to join it! If you do not find any organization fits your interests, you can start a new one.  If you do not have enough time to be a member of any organization, you can always look for the recent events through MyInvolvement, the University Events Calendar, or the posters around campus. There is always something going on campus. I think that it is helpful to be engaged on campus as early as you can. Make best chance of every opportunity.

For me, since I am majoring in accounting, I joined an accounting organization, Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) at UAlbany.  All in all, joining in BAP is the best decision I made at UAlbany. I will never forget this valuable experience. Though, I must admit that there is a lot of extra work during the whole candidacy process. You probably would have to sacrifice your free time in order to focus on school, work, and the candidacy process.  I cannot imagine how less interesting the life here would be if I did not join BAP and meet a group of friends. My favorite part of BAP was people in our candidate class. When I first came to Albany, I knew nobody here. No family, no friends.  I had classmates, but we just had class together and everyone left after class. Then, I met our candidate classmates. They are the first friends I made at  UAlbany; they are also my best friends. They helped me to collect bottles (required as an assignment of every week); they accompanied me on shopping trips.  They explained many things to me and answered my stupid questions every day. They would call me when I could not find the my way. We laughed together (no crying yet). We studied in the library together. We hung out together. We learned interview skills together. We did community service together. We grew up together. Besides the classmates, our E-Board were also very responsible and friendly. They interviewed us and gave us feedback for future improvement. Our PCs (Prospect Coordinator) were considerate to us. They sacrificed one afternoon every week to try to help us grow up and prepare for the real working world. People are so nice here. I did not see why I should be not kind to others  – to pass on the kindness. I really love them! I not only made a group of friends but also learned the meaning of always helping others.  At the time, I could not imagine the day I would leave UAlbany. I knew that I would probably cry to death in my heart while seeing this lovely city disappearing outside the windows of my flight. I did. I cried.

As I have mentioned before, people are more generous than you think! You just need to get out of your comfort zone, talk to people and get involved in groups. I am sure you can make new friends and find a sense of belonging at UAlbany. I believe that the same will be true for you if you plan to study abroad.

Okay, that is what I wanted to share with you about my campus life in Albany. Feel free to leave your comments below! See you next time!

 

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Please Note: The views of our student bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the UAlbany Academic Support Center or the Center for International Education and Global Strategy. These are their stories  – their voices.

• UAlbany Education Abroad

• MyInvolvement (List of Student Organizations)

About the Author:

Jade H.
Spring 2019 Exchange Student
Major: Accounting
Blog Theme:
Wherever You Go, Be the Best You

You are What You Eat

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my blog again. As I have mentioned  in my previous blog, I am going to share my interesting experiences in the U.S. with you. Today, let us talk about eating when you go abroad for the first time.

Honestly, Chinese food and American food have huge differences. I still remember my first two days at UAlbany. I was trapped in my room for  two days, because I knew nobody here at that time. The whole school was still closed due to the bad weather. All I saw outside my window was the snow. I did not expect there to be such a big snow storm right after I arrived here. Fortunately, my friendly roommate gave me several bags of noodles, which saved me during the snow days!

After the new semester started, I kept eating surprises in blind spots and guesses every day. Can you imagine that every day you are ordering food with names that you actually do not understand? Well, scroll down to see how I survived.

One day I bought a bottle of “milk”. And I asked my classmates in our group chat whether I could recycle the bottle. (because we have to recycle bottles for community service every week, which I will talk about later in my following blog). Instead of answering my questions, they asked me, “More importantly, Jade, did you really drink it?”

I was kind of confused then, “Not really, but why did you ask? Is it not delicious?”

“Because it is not milk, it is half and half.”

What is half and half? Honestly, I still did not know what this word really meant. I searched on google and found out that half and half  refers to half cream and half milk. People add it into coffee but never drink it alone.

OMG, thanks to the group chat, I did not drink it.

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After I figured out the bus routes in Albany, I began to go to Walmart by myself to buy things I needed. There are two floors and so many different kinds of food, vegetables and fruits, which makes it seems a good place for shopping, but to me, it looked like a maze the first time I went there. I wanted to buy instant coffee, finally I found the coffee area between shelves. Then I also bought some cracker biscuits, fruits and paper. After I came out of Walmart, it begun snowing heavily. I carried two shopping bags and waited for the bus. Honestly, now I even cannot imagine how could I carry those heavy bags and walk from the bus stop to my room without glove or boots. I did not expect the weather to be so cold here. I just remember stopping at the entrance door of my building. I found that my fingers were so frozen that I could not even control them to take out my SUNYCard to wipe for the door. I put down my bags and put my hands near my neck to unfreeze them. Several minutes later, I could finally feel my fingers move and I was able to take out my card and keys to enter my room.

The two bags were already covered with snow. I wiped off the snow and opened them carefully like a trophy from a difficult battle. I opened the coffee jar because I wanted to warm myself by drinking hot. But I found out that it looked different than the instant coffee I had seen before. I checked the jar again. OMG, it said “ground coffee”. I went to Google and found out that ground coffee is result of roasting & grinding fresh coffee beans, and needs to be brewed via plunger, espresso machine etc.

The first several weeks, I relied on the campus center to eat, but I did not understand most of the names on the menu. More importantly, I did not know how to answer when people asked me “what do you want,” especially when there was a long line behind me. It would be rather embarrassing to take out your phone and look up every word of the menu in the dictionary. I have discovered several ways to save myself in these situations. I think that they will work for you if you study abroad in a country where you do not speak the language. First, I would look up the menu before and make sure I knew the exact meaning. These menus are all on the UAlbany Dining website. Secondly, if you forget the meaning one day, you can also just point to the food which looks like the one you want. Even if you do not know what you should point to, you can always ask “Can you just give me the most popular one?”   Remember: never be afraid to ask questions! I actually tried this way several times in the CC, which worked out well. At least, I found out that my favorite sauce is BBQ at Halal Shack!

Ok, what if the dining staff says they do not know which meal is the most popular? The last way to save yourself is just saying,  “I would like the same thing the person bought before me.”

Finally, I cannot be satisfied by fake Asian food. I began to cook by myself. Cooking is not as difficult as you think. I began by buying a saucepan, bowls, and all the cooking stuff from Walmart. Then I called my mom to learn how to cook rice and noodles to feed myself.

After two weeks, I could make Chinese food and did not have worry about being hungry in my room. Last week, I invited my “Albany Mom” to my apartment and cooked delicious Chinese food for her!

If you have a kitchen, it actually saves you more money by cooking!

But I have to remind you guys to pay attention to your input! Eat regularly and healthily. Take me as a negative example. At first, I did not understand how many calories some foods had, and ate many fatty food without noticing, such as the coffee cream, which I thought was just sugar. Most of the bread or snacks here contain more fat and sugar than those I eat in China. Plus, I tended to eat later in the evening somehow. Not surprisingly, I gained 22 pounds after the first two months! But you can definitely avoid this by knowing what you are eating and working out regularly, which is what I am trying to do now.

All right, that is what I want to share with you guys about my food experiences in Albany. Feel free to leave your comments below! See you next time.

 

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Please Note: The views of our student bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the UAlbany Academic Support Center or the Center for International Education and Global Strategy. These are their stories  – their voices.

• UAlbany Education Abroad

• UAlbany Dining Dietitian

About the Author:

Jade H.
Spring 2019 Exchange Student
Major: Accounting
Blog Theme:
Wherever You Go, Be the Best You

Start Changing Now. Be a Better You!

Okay, for my first blog post, my goal is to encourage you, my dear readers, to go abroad and see different things. Start changing now!

Let us take a time machine and go back to the beginning of Winter 2018. That was when I decided to come to the USA and when I applied for the University at Albany Exchange Student Program. Since I want to pursue my master’s degree in the USA, I thought that it would be a good idea to go and study for one semester first. Hopefully, my time at UAlbany, will help me to decide whether I want to spend more years studying here.

Honestly, I am the first generation in my family to study abroad. So literally, I finished all the complicated preparation procedures by myself when I still had to deal with all of the junior year’s school work at my university. Anyway, after submitting all required materials, getting my visa, getting three vaccine shots for the immunization requirements, booking air tickets, getting my international credit cards, and packing all the luggage for the whole semester; finally, on the 16th of January, 2019, I boarded the flight to the United States, with only my two suitcases and one backpack.

From Beijing to Albany: 6844 miles

I still cannot believe it took me three plane transfers and more than 30 hours to finally arrive in Albany. First, I flew from Beijing to Los Angeles. Then, from LA to Philadelphia. When I was waiting in Philadelphia airport for the third flight to Albany, I met the first person I spoke to in the USA. OK, technically, the first people I spoke to were the airport staff, LOL.

A lady was sitting and reading a book in the seat next to me. I wanted to charge my phone with the electrical outlet near her seat. At first, I was really nervous about talking to strangers. But my phone was going to die, so I got up the courage and began talking to her. As I mentioned in my introduction,  people are more generous than you may think. She was such a nice and warm woman and we talked a lot about ourselves. I also told her about my first experiences in the USA and my reasons for coming here. Her hometown is Albany, but she works in California. She comes back to Albany to take care of her mom once in a while. She also has a very cute and nice grandson, and other family members. She gave me her number for any questions I had so I could contact her. When we said goodbye in the airport, she told that me she was my Albany mom. In the first week, we could not find a meeting time due to the snow storm. On the 4th of February, we went out together for lunch and we had a nice conversation. She even gave me gifts, gloves and scarves, which saved me during my first Albany winter! Thank you again, my Albany mom! Good people deserve good words! I welcome you and all your family to China one day! You are all definitely VIP guests for me and my family!

Though I do admit that you have to prepare a bunch of things before your departure, and you will probably have to overcome a variety of differences including food, culture, weather, etc., which could be really challenging at first, please remember that you will never see new things without going out of your comfort zone! After all these hard yet valuable experiences, you may finally discover a totally different you.  I will share what happened to me when I studied abroad with the experiences in food, studying, and living in Albany! Do not miss it. Check this website again! And feel free to leave your comment below! See you next time.

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Please Note: The views of our student bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the UAlbany Academic Support Center or the Center for International Education and Global Strategy. These are their stories  – their voices.

• UAlbany Education Abroad

About the Author:

Jade H.
Spring 2019 Exchange Student
Major: Accounting
Blog Theme:
Wherever You Go, Be the Best You

Wherever You Go, Be the Best You

Hello everyone! Thanks for clicking into my blog. I promise you will not regret it! As you can see from my title, “Wherever You Go, Be the Best You” and maybe from the picture above, I am not from the United States. I come from China. I have been to Australia and England. Now I am here, at UAlbany! My name is Jade and I am an exchange student for the 2019 Spring semester.

Without any exaggeration, I think I am a person who loves being exposed to new things and making new friends! I am never satisfied with staying in one place forever. Looking back on all the experiences so far, I do have many amazing stories. I mean, really unbelievable.  I have learned a lot of things from all the stories. and I also enjoy writing and sharing my stories. So here I am. I cannot even wait to share with you guys!

Even though it is not the end of this semester yet, I can definitely say that this will be a life changing experience for me because I have already learned and changed so much!

So basically my theme for Project MyStory is about the college students’ study abroad life experiences. My topics include academic experiences, the food, the activities, and the culture, the people, and so on in this lovely city called Albany. I am not going to just pour out what has happened to me. Every story is connected to at least one person I met in my life. As far as I am concerned, the reason why people are the most cherished creatures in the world is that we have emotions, love, mercy and virtue. No story can happen without the involvement of personal characters. I do believe in fate now. Think about how many people are in our planet in total? Around 7.6 billion. If we can meet each other at the probability of the 1/7.6 billion (for example,  you are reading my story now), then this must be one reason why I should be friendly to you and keep it for good.

So if you are a new UAlbany student or a student who is considering studying abroad, this would definitely give you some tips and insight of your new stage in life. If you are not, you will also get some idea about how to create a different life, and new inspirations about how to make your life more amazing. At last, I mainly want to prove to you two sentences: The world is better than you’ve thought. People are more generous than you’ve thought.

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Please Note: The views of our student bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the UAlbany Academic Support Center or the Center for International Education and Global Strategy. These are their stories  – their voices.

• UAlbany Education Abroad

About the Author:

Jade H.
Spring 2019 Exchange Student
Major: Accounting
Blog Theme:
Wherever You Go, Be the Best You

Spring 2019 Withdrawal and S/U Deadline

April 8 is the last day to

Withdraw from a semester length course
OR
Apply the S/U grading option to a semester length course