5 Reasons USC Students Need to Study Abroad in Singapore
By Jamie Wu ‘18
One of the biggest regrets that college seniors always have is not studying abroad. I didn’t truly understand why until I studied abroad at the National University of Singapore in the Spring of 2017. Living abroad for 4 months was the best decision of my college career. I know that puts a lot of weight to my words but I genuinely cannot recommend studying abroad enough (and especially in Singapore). And these are the top 5 reasons why.
(Marina Bay Sands Merlion)
1. The National University of Singapore has one of the most diverse group of exchange students
On the first day of school, the NUS Peer Advising group threw the exchange students a welcome party and there were over 600 exchange students from all over the world. I met people who were from France, Sweden, Tokyo, Toronto and even Finland!
The best part about meeting diverse people is learning about their different cultures and mannerisms and participating in their holidays and way of life. There are so many different perspectives about religion, politics, education that students are not aware of unless they go out and talk about those topics with people from different backgrounds. NUS allows you to do exactly that because you’re constantly doing fun activities like dragon-boat racing and exploring Marina Bay Sands with a new group of exchange students every week.
(Dragon Boat Racing with other exchange students)
2. It is located in the heart of SE Asia
Singapore is located at the southern tip of Malaysia. You can get to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and the Philippines pretty much within 2-3 hours by plane, with tickets going anywhere from $50-$200. When I was abroad, I was able to go to 4 different SE countries during my weekends and spring vacations. It was definitely a highlight of mine to travel so much because everything was so accessible! If I wanted to get pho from Vietnam or food from Malaysia, I just hopped on a plane or bus and got there within a couple of hours!
Food in Singapore is also really cheap compared to the states. (Our 70 cents is worth 1 Singapore dollar!) And even cheaper in Thailand and Malaysia. You can get a full meal for as low as $1. There are also exotic and different foods like duck, frog legs and maggots that you can try! They may sound gross but don’t judge until you’ve had them :)
(Feeding an elephant in Thailand!)
3. You have all the time in the world to do anything and everything
In college, you’ll soon realize that you’ll be busy with class, extracurricular activities and jobs. But when you’re abroad, classes are pass/no pass and you’ll most likely be taking fun classes like Food Tasting in Japan. That means you might have classes 3 out of the 5 days and you get to travel on the other days. You don’t have to worry about getting a good grade in class and you get to do things you actually want to do, like building relationships with other people, enjoying the new scenery and traveling to different places! The exchange student life is a moment in time that you’ll never be able to get anywhere else because you don’t have a care in the world except deciding what country to visit next!
(Wat Prah Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai)
4. You will make life-long friends
Two of my roommates were from Tokyo and the other from Toronto. Over the school year, we bonded over our lack of a kitchen stove, the humidity of Singapore, our weirdness and our travel adventures together. To say the least, we became pretty good friends after spending 4 months together. What was also amazing was that over the summer one roommate was interning in Pittsburgh and the other went to school in Georgia Tech. So we actually ended up meeting at Washington D.C. and doing a road-trip all the way down to Atlanta. Even though we met in Singapore, we kept in touch and planned another adventure together in the States. Don’t underestimate how many good relationships you can build in such a short amount of time!
(Roommates in Malaysia)
(Roommates in Georgia)
5. It is actually as life-changing as people say it is
When you’re put into a completely new and different environment, you’re bound to be scared. But that’s okay because it’s a part of the experience. The reason why study abroad can be life-changing is because your semester will be full of unexpected, scary and different moments. You’ll laugh over your friend making the microwave explode, cry over losing your wallet and smile over the dumb jokes that were said. But you’ll be challenged to think about your culture, your religion, your lifestyle in a very uncomfortable but necessary way. You’ll finally be able to live outside the college bubble and see what the rest of the world is doing. And also realize that you’re not lost in college. If people are living under a dollar a day and they’re still living, you’ll be okay no matter what, especially since you go to school at USC. You’ll get to where you need to be one day but that day might not be tomorrow. And that’s okay. You’ll also get a sense of what you want to do in life after seeing the world. Study abroad has taught me to relax and know that sometimes the best moments happen when unplanned.
(Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay)
So what are you waiting for? Apply now through USC’s Dornsife, Marshall or Viterbi program. The world is waiting for you!
All the best,
Jamie
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