Hey everyone at Luwan! I hope your new term is going well! Several days ago Mr. Berg contacted me through Facebook messenger and asked me to write something about my life at Purdue. When you read this, I really want you guys to feel how I’m struggling now. There’s really too much to talk about and it’s so hard to boil it all down into a few small paragraphs. I’m really afraid you will feel this is boring and toss it into your bag or the garbage.
I’ll first start with the study part. The biggest change in university is NO ONE WILL ASK YOU TO DO ANYTHING ANYMORE! You might think ‘Pzzzzzzz, I’ve heard it a thousand times before’, but I promise this is the hardest thing to get used to. No matter whether you are a top student or currently not doing so well, you will constantly forget stuff. Especially during final exams, you will literally have thousands of things to do, and it’s so common to forget one or two due dates.
That’s it for the study part. I said I don’t want you guys to feel bad, so we can talk about something fun now. The best part for me in university is now I finally have the chance to attend so many different kinds of clubs and events. The clubs are mostly arranged and managed by student groups. You can choose from Anime to Zoo lovers (there’s literally a ‘zoo lovers’ club on campus but unfortunately there is no zoo around. There’s actually nothing around Purdue, NOTHING!) If you are interested in theme parks, there is a theme parks design club which provides REAL OPPORTUNITY for you to design theme parks with engineers. Quick mention, if you like roller-coasters, there is a roller-coaster design Major at the Purdue School of Engineering. And it’s also easy to form bands or music groups because many residence halls provide a music room for practice.
For now I’m working with a freshmen service organization for Purdue and answering applicants’ questions. I’d like to answer a few common questions to give you a more complete portrait of university life. Here they are:
Q: Are there a lot of Chinese students in American universities? Are universities with less Chinese people better?
A: There are a lot of Asian students and non-American students in public universities. If a university has an uncommonly low percentage of international students, it increases the possibility of enduring or experiencing racism.
Q: My mom said it’s better to make friends with Americans / Canadians instead of Asian / Chinese because they will have a bad influence on me?
A: That’s a stereotype. I think it’s actually hard to make friends with a lot if Americans because you were raised in different environments and share different values, so there are not many intersections for you to develop a friendship. But I don’t say it’s totally impossible because your lab mates or classmates will be Americans/Canadians and you still get chance to know them. I have several good American friends and they are all very interesting. So feel free to make friends with whoever you want!
Q: Do I have to buy a car?
A: If your university or college is in a rural area (like Purdue), I strongly recommend you to buy a car in sophomore year or after because it’s so inconvenient in rural areas and there’s a huge distance to move to restaurants and supermarkets. There’s a public bus you can take on weekdays, but nothing on the weekends. So buy a car or have a good friend with a car (or both)! The reason I suggest buying a car after sophomore year is because freshmen are commonly required to live on campus in dorms. After sophomore year, you can live in the student apartments outside campus.
That’s basically all I want to mention! And if you have further questions, please feel free to contact me. I’d be happy to answer your questions. I wish all of you a great time this term and I hope to see you at Purdue!