Karis' Exchange to San Diego State University | USA
My name is Karis Walton and I studied abroad at San Diego State University (SDSU) in the USA in Semester 1, 2020. At Murdoch University, I
am studying Criminal Behaviour and Counter Terrorism.
The key factors for myself choosing to study at SDSU were...
With the course I'm doing the options were limited, but I knew I wanted to go to America and not Europe. California appealed to me the most, so that’s why I pursued San Diego over places like Wisconsin. I had also had a few friends that had been to San Diego and they told me it is very much like Perth, coastal and very relaxed, so that was appealing to me. When I was in high school picking what uni to go to, I had spoken to one of the Murdoch students at a career fair who not only did the same degree as me but also went to SDSU for a semester and absolutely loved it – past reviews about it definitely helped me select that college!
A little about SDSU...
I loved studying at San Diego State, college in general is very different to our university style. The classes are
smaller, the professors take time to get to know you and the learning is more
structured and followed up in the sense that there is homework to do etc. I
took two criminology classes, and two electives – an intro to psych and an
intro to hospitality & tourism management. The contact hours I had were 2
hrs for one crim class, one hour for the other, two hours for psych and one hour
for the hospitality class. I thoroughly enjoyed the actual academic aspect of
life over there (never thought I would say that!) but it was so different. It
is very career focused over there, all the professors have had heaps of
experience in the field and are focused on helping you in any way possible to
do best position yourself to secure a job when you graduate, for example most
of the students over there regularly complete internships within the criminal
justice field. There is also a big emphasis on student groups, for example in
the hospitality ‘school’ students are encouraged to join student organisations,
to the point where pretty much every student within their last years are in
one, they do all different things such as organising events for the college,
meets and greets with locals in the field with many gaining graduate positions
purely through the connections they have formed with people through the events
the organisation holds.
A little about the city I lived in, San Diego…
San Diego was a bit tricky to get around on
public transport at first. It took a while to get around, but
you adapt and get used to it. We eventually started using the ride share apps a bit
more as it was just easier at times. The locals were awesome, so welcoming and
happy to help if you were lost or anything. With San Diego being on the border
of Mexico, authentic Mexican food was available everywhere and it was
delicious. There were a few places at Pacific and Mission Beach which were
delicious. The campus also had a big range of different food places which were
all delicious, there was a smoothie bowl shop and a burger shop which were
super popular as well as sandwich places, grill’s, and one cafeteria which was
like a buffet set up. San Diego also has Coronado which is a super cute island
only a small drive away which was amazing.
The best parts of my experience…
It is hard to pick just one best part of my exchange experience, but the people were pretty special, I was lucky to make some really good friends from all over the world who were also studying abroad. College in general was also awesome, the college sport was amazing in particular SDSU’s basketball team was incredible, it pretty much felt like being at a wildcats game! On TV not only are there channels just dedicated to public sport but also the whole community gets around it and supports it which is awesome.
Some of the challenges about studying abroad…
In all honesty, there wasn’t much
I struggled with whilst on exchange apart from having to leave early
because of COVID, which was pretty upsetting! The only other thing would be
having to use the dryers to dry out washing as it seemed to shrink most of our
clothes haha! I was super lucky to have an awesome roommate, who happened
to also be from Murdoch, and make such amazing friends, we also had a really
good group of people on exchange which was super lucky.
A little about my accommodation whilst studying abroad…
I lived on campus whilst I was on exchange,
which was super convenient. One thing I found so crazy was not only how big the
college is in regards to students, campus size etc, there are also so many
different on campus housing buildings all around the campus! We were lucky to
get into one of the newer ones which was super convenient. I was in a room with
two single beds, a desk each, a sink, fridge & microwave and bathroom within our room. It took a bit of
getting use to but was super convenient. It was so hard deciding whether to
stay on campus or off, there also was an apartment block, BLVD63, where lots of
the exchange students stayed and that was super fun. There were heaps of parties
there, but the only down falls were that it was more expensive and further away. There
are pros and cons everywhere and it is super hard to pick whether to stay on or
off campus when you don’t know what it is like!
Funding my exchange experience…
I have been working since I was
13, so I used most of my personal saving but also got the OS help loan, which
was lucky! The dollar rate ended up being super bad for us – mainly because of
everything going in the world (COVID), making it all a bit more expensive than
we had planned.
Whilst on exchange, I travelled to…
Our first trip, was to
palm springs which was awesome, out in the desert exactly as you think it would
be! We hired a car and just stayed in an Airbnb, we went to Joshua Tree National
Park, which was awesome, and to Mount Salvation which was cool! My parents also came over to visit. I met
them in San Francisco, so I flew there on a Thursday night for the weekend then
flew back to San Diego with them. San Fran was awesome as well, we did the
Alcatraz trip, and a hop on off bus which was the best way to get most things
done within a day or two including the golden gate bridge and Sausalito (this
was awesome would definitely recommend!). We also were lucky enough to squeeze
in a trip to Vegas as well, we drove there on the Friday we also went to hoover
dam & Grand Canyon – two states in one day which is awesome! We also did
the typical Vegas strip although most shows & clubs were closed due to
COVID starting to take off, we arrived on the Friday, left on the Monday and
got back to college booked a flight and left the following day!
Advice I would give to someone considering studying abroad…
I mean in the world we are in at the moment with COVID I really hope exchange can occur again for future students. It is amazing, honestly a once in a life time experience and I would definitely recommend you going! It is a challenge. For me, the lead up to going was more challenging. I had lots of issues trying to get my visa and it was super stressful, but once I was there it was all worth it. You meet people from all over the world and make friends and memories that are going to last a lifetime. Unfortunately for us, our trip was cut short by about 2 months. We were pretty much halfway through our exchange when we had to return home because of COVID, which was such a shame. I honestly loved every minute of it and could not recommend it anymore. You have to go over there with an open mind, take every thing that comes your way, welcome every opportunity and chance, and dive right into the local culture.
If you are like me... the
exchange comes around super quick. Everything seems super rushed and you get
super stressed about the lead up to it... The only thing I can say is that – it is
all worth it. As I said before, I can’t recommend it enough. I am so
incredibly thankful I got to go when I did. Even though it got cut short, I had
the most amazing two months of my life with a once in a life time
experience. I am so lucky I made such amazing friends and had an awesome
roommate. We were both able to fully immerse ourselves in the local
culture and take everything as it comes. In all honesty, the actual academic
side of it was just on the back burner! College was awesome and I could not
recommend it enough.
- Karis studied abroad at San Diego State University in the USA.
EMAIL: studyabroad@murdoch.edu.au
