Let’s Get Down to Business School

This may shock some of you, but I have now completed my first class at WU. I know what you are thinking, classes only started a few weeks ago, how could one be over already? That is the magic of block schedules.

Now that I am getting used to my new classes, I thought it was a good time to share a little about the differences between WU and USC. In a lot of ways it is very different, but of course, there are lots of similarities as well.

I’ll start with the campus. Both schools have beautiful campuses, but WU’s is much smaller. This is because the university only offers majors and courses of study in business and related topics. Anyone studying art, history, science, or engineering goes to another university entirely. Therefore, they need fewer buildings. They also don’t offer on-campus housing, medical care, and there is only a small sports facility.

In South Carolina, the campus is designed to function as a city within a city. You don’t ever need to leave. Here, you go to campus mostly just for classes. It’s nice because it encourages the students to interact with the city more, but I find myself missing the convenience and atmosphere at Carolina sometimes.

No Historic Horseshoe this semester
                                                 "University of South Carolina Horseshoe" by Dfscgt21 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons                                                                                                                                                                   

Since this campus is entirely new, however, it does have some pretty cool futuristic technology. Like you get to lock your stuff up at the library in lockers that use your ID card as a key. And all of the rooms have electronic signs that tell you which class is meeting there. It is pretty cool to see the new advancements.

WU's brand new campus

The classes are also different. Although I haven’t found the actual content to be too radical a departure from what I am used to. The focus is on case studies, practical applications of concepts, and group work. Class time is divided between lectures and discussions. All of that feels very familiar. I have seen the resurgence of what I thought to be a long-lost technology though: the flipchart. We use them mostly for group discussions. It’s just a different way for us to present our ideas, but I haven’t used one in a long time.

We did have one unusual class session, however. My diversity management class meets in blocks, and our latest lecture was about disability in organizations. To help us have a more in-depth understanding of what living with a disability is like, our lecturer provided us wheelchairs and had us try to go around campus. It was a very eye-opening experience!

Since I am taking my classes in English, many of the other students I'm meeting are also international students. And not just from Canada and the US, from all over the world. While there have been international students in my classes at USC, there have never been this many. Getting to hear everyone’s diverse perspectives has been one of my favorite parts of taking classes here at WU.

If there is one way that school is completely different here, it is scheduling. At USC classes usually meet twice a week for an hour and a half or three times a week for 50 minutes. Here classes usually meet once a week for three hours. That is, if you sign up for classes that meet regularly. I’m only taking one course with a regular schedule. The rest are some variation of a block. One meets some, but not every Friday for a month and a half for five hours. Another meets every day in a week for five hours. That’s the one I am already finished with. In general, block classes meet a total of five times and other classes meet about eight. So, it feels like I‘m in class less than back at USC. But the content is interesting and the professors are engaging, so I still feel like I am learning a lot.

So far I have enjoyed my classes at WU. Most of the courses I am taking cover topics that don’t have their own class at USC, so it offers me a chance to explore new areas of study. Plus, with my irregular class schedule I have plenty of time to get out and explore the city. It all feels very laid-back. I sometimes worry that I will have trouble re-adjusting to round-the-clock classes at USC.  

 

Each way of conducting classes has its strengths and weaknesses. I doubt that I will ever be able to confidently say that I prefer one way to the other. For now, I want to focus on taking full advantage of my new classes and diverse peers, as well as the many travel opportunities my irregular schedule affords me.

The great secret I have been hiding is that I’m not even in class right now. After one whole month, it was time for Easter break. All classes and activities have been put on hold for two weeks, so I am traveling. My trip will take me through Bavaria to Prague, with stops in Munich, Stuttgart, and many famous castles. I will try to write posts about all of that and more very soon! And not to worry, I still have plenty to talk about from my time in Vienna as well. Bis bald! (See you soon!)

Shouldn’t You Be in School? Preparing to Go Abroad

Being back in my hometown after all of the other college students have left is an interesting experience. I’m definitely mastering the “why aren’t you in school?” conversation.  

Like when a neighbor caught me walking my dog in the middle of the day. “Why aren’t you at school?” they asked.

“I’m in college now,” was my somewhat-glib reply. It didn’t clear up their confusion. I then explained that I was studying abroad, and they start school later in Austria.

I’ve had similar encounters at Starbucks, and when my parents’ friends come to visit. It’s tempting to start making up elaborate stories about how I dropped out of school to join the circus. In the end though, that’s not as cool as spending a semester in Vienna, so I stick with the truth.

Every country, even every university, has its own start date. Some spring semesters start in January. That is when classes started at USC. In Vienna, on the other hand, classes don’t start until March. The way my new university schedules its classes is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Classes only meet five to ten times. Sometimes that is for one week, sometimes it’s every Wednesday for a month plus one random Tuesday. It was a confusing system to learn, but now I almost have put a complete schedule together.

Here’s a one-month preview. Every month looks different.

 

I can’t wait to start my new classes. All of them will be in English. There are classes offered in German too, but those aren’t designed for international students. Even on my most confident days, my German isn’t that good. I’m registered for five awesome classes to earn credit towards my two majors.

This is my only chance to take a few of these classes, since some of them, like social media marketing, aren’t offered at USC. So, I’m extra excited. Isn’t that what college is about? Geeking out about what classes you get to take?

In the meantime, I wait. I’m ironing out the final details of my time abroad: like my teeny-weeny rent problem. The housing office required rent to be paid in cash by the 5^th of the month. Only problem was, on the 5^th of February, I would still be in Texas. After getting no response to my first email, I started to panic a little. It wasn’t like I could pick up the phone and call. To make matters worse, the offices closed at noon. That is 5 am central time. So, I set two alarms, one for 2:30 am and one for 4:30 am.

When your alarm goes off at 2:30 am, it takes a moment to remember that it is not a fire alarm. Once that panic-inducing moment was over, I checked my email. The housing office had answered some of my questions. After another moment of sheer panic at 4:30 am, I learned that the housing office in Austria only employs the nicest people. They said they made a note of when I was arriving and would waive my late fee. My early morning email conversations had paid off!  

There’s only ten days until I leave. I can hardly believe it! I should probably start packing. I’ll check in with an update soon.