Why CofC is the best! (and advice for future international students)

 

My name is Saif Khan and I’m a 22 year old International Student from London, United Kingdom and I chose the College of Charleston for my year abroad placement from August, 2017 – May, 2018. Being born and raised in the centre of a major city presented me with different opportunities that I encountered during my time in Charleston. The great weather, southern hospitality, and the community spirit of the students here were things that I wasn’t used to back at home. Studying at the College of Charleston has changed my life in so many different ways.

People often ask me if I’ve enjoyed my time in Charleston; the only reply that reflects how much I enjoyed it is to say that I would recommend it to anybody and everybody. Regardless of your background and what you are and aren’t used to. The Business School in particular is fantastic with a wide variety of courses alongside opportunities to connect with businesses and individuals outside of the classroom. From Marketing, to International Business to Entrepreneurship, there’s something for anybody that is willing to look. The teaching here focuses on actually learning the content as opposed to just passing exams and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. I have acquired valuable skills that are transferable to multiple academic courses. With the support of my professors, peers, and advisors I really feel set up for success when I do leave the College of Charleston.

Saif’s Advice to Future International Students:

– Get involved with the Cougar Ambassador programme! The uncertainty of moving to a new country, city, and culture is daunting no matter who you are. I had a million questions about Charleston and thankfully I had the pleasure of becoming paired with Alex Guerrero who was a Cougar Ambassador student volunteer. He helped me with any queries I had about the College of Charleston and life here in general. The programme was essential to me as it helped me budget, plan, and set expectations for life here. The CA programme was so important for me and above all of the help, I became friends with Alex, an incredibly selfless and inspirational person.

 

– Engage with the International Club! It’s important to remember that other International Students will be joining you, and especially in your first few days you’ll all have similar errands to run. The Center for International Education (CIE) is brilliant in helping you through this and you’ll soon find yourself to be friends with other International Students too. Beyond that, I have been fortunate enough to be able to go on trips organised by the CIE and the International Club Officers. The officers are incredible people and CofC students like you and I who plan get togethers and activities such as Skiing and Paddleboarding. The magnificent hard work they put in is for the benefit of all of us and you really feel a part of the community and create memories that you’ll never forget.

– Patience is a virtue. Like moving to any new place, your first few days may slightly overwhelm you but that’s all a part of the experience. It’s only a few days of uncertainty but Charleston will capture you and you’ll never look back. The food, the climate, the sights and the things to do are endless.

-Enjoy every second of it. You’ll be looking back one day and wondering where all of the time has gone. There’s something for everybody and I have yet to meet one person who hasn’t had the time of their lives.

– I’m already jealous of the time you’ll have here. I wish I could do it all over again. Good Luck and Go Cougs!

 

– Saif Khan, Business Information Technology exchange student from the University of Hertfordshire, UK

 

 

My amazing time at the College of Charleston

It was my first experience as an exchange student as well as my first time to travel to the USA, and I’m really glad that the program’s destination was the College of Charleston (CofC). I had a great time here and I could talk about it infinitely but I’ll try to be neat and summarize the most important points in this short blog post.

First of all, I should say that the organization was perfect. All the help with pre-arrival preparations, individual picking up from the airport, student buddies system, all the infinite events held etc., all of these were really well-organized, helpful, exciting and a lot of fun. Probably the most outstanding was how CofC turned the hurricane Mathew student panic into an amazing trip to the University of South Carolina in Columbia for those who had no place to go to during the disaster. I guess I should also advertise the Washington trip held by the Center of International Education and the International Club. It’s the city you definitely have to visit if you’re coming to the US and they make it much cheaper, much more organized and much more interesting for you. To be honest, all the events I managed to attend in the CofC were really good, with lots of free food and snacks, interesting people to meet and unforgettable hospitable atmosphere.

Second, I really love people in Charleston. I come from Ukraine and I study in Estonia, and I would say that people in these two countries are rather quite, calm and a bit cold. That’s why I was really surprised with how friendly, hospitable and open Americans and all the international students in CofC are. It’s really easy to make friends there and it’s really pleasant to live when everyone always smiles to you and wishes you a good day. Being surrounded with permanent positivity, your mood will stay great even during really bad times. I should also mention an awesome opportunity to meet international students that CofC provides. Since there are a lot of people from the most different parts of the world (America, Europe, Asia, Africa) Charleston is a great place to learn about foreign cultures from natives. Besides, since a lot of CofC students had an exchange semester abroad they could also tell you a lot about their experience. I really enjoyed this opportunity and broadened my mind a lot making by friends from all over the world.

One final thing that I really liked in Charleston was lots of activities you can do there. You will always have something to do besides attending classes and will never get bored in the CofC. First of all, there are loads of events held by Center of International Education, student organizations and clubs. You will find some social event at least every other day. If you’re into sports, you can sign up to play for a college team or go play just for fun every week. You can go to one of the college’s gyms to exercise or attend group classes. They have a cool dancing room in one of the gyms, which I really enjoyed going to every other day. Moreover, if you’re playing a musical instrument CofC have lots of practice rooms in the building of arts where you can play either piano or your own instrument any day and any time. I won’t say much about academics because it’s rather major specific, but all the teachers I had there were rather like friends to their students always caring and trying to help every single one. I liked that teachers often promoted interesting events related to their subjects so that the students could learn more about them. Last but not least, you can always go swimming and sunbathing to the ocean, since it’s really warm at least until November.

 

Overall, I will always remember my amazing exchange semester in the College of Charleston and be grateful to the staff and my friends who made my stay there really fantastic. I associate CofC with lots of well-organized and exciting social and educating events and really warm and friendly people. I wish I could stay there longer and I dream about going to Charleston at least once more in the future.

 

– Mykola Herasymovych, Economics Exchange student from Tartu University, Estonia

 

 

 

 

Exploring Charleston: Tea Plantation and Angel Oak tree

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About twenty international students took a ride from CofC international office, and headed to Charleston tea plantation. After about twenty minutes ride, we arrived to a Charleston tea plantation, and it was an amazing place for a quiet afternoon away from the packed downtown areas. We started with tea factory tour next to the souvenir shop. We watched the videos which explains tea production process as we walked in to the factory.

Next, we went to the bus/trolley tour which was very informative as we get to see the tea plants, and fields as well as their greenhouse. After the tour we had a time, so some went to buy souvenirs, some sat outside and relaxed, and some went to try tea samples. In the souvenir shop you can sample as much hot and cold tea as you like. Charleston tea plantation was huge, and I could feel the grandeur of nature in South Carolina.

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Every time I look up the sky I can see and feel that the sky is round, and I can feel that because there is no obstacles between me and sky. Since I grew up in a city area, I had never noticed that before. I can say that I am so lucky and happy that I could come to Charleston, and I appreciate the beauty of nature here every day..

her-magesty

After the tea plantation, we went to see Angle Oak in Johns Island. I was overwelmed by the size of the tree, and I just couldn’t believe that widespreading branches are from one tree. At the same time, I was really surprised to hear that this tree is around five hundread year old which is older than America. It was interesting to think how can one nation develop and lead the rest of the world in such a short period of time.

– Kurumi Hayashi, Communication exchange student from Kansai Gaidai University, Japan

Hello world!

Welcome to the new Center for International Education’s blog for international students at the College of Charleston! This blog is a resource for new and current international students and also highlights the experiences of international students at the College. If you are a current international student and would like to write a blog post, please contact Melissa Ochal at ochalm@cofc.edu.