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2018 大三出國輔導通報 -


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[ 學校資料 ][ 相關討論 ][ 選校輔導 ]《登記統計》《使用說明及問題

2018大三出國輔導通報系統 - 留學心得報告[編輯]
應資 405840058  陳淯潔  留學學校:西佛羅里達大學

(一)基本資料

The University of West Florida is located in Pensacola, a lovely city with one of the most beautiful white beaches in the world. It is 20 minutes drive away from Pensacola airport. In my first semester here, I took several general education courses like women studies and music experience in the hope of getting a taste of the American way of learning those subjects. As for my second semester, most of the courses I took are from engineering and cybersecurity department.(80字)

(二)課程學習

照片說明:On-campus concert

【照片說明:On-campus concert】

Some of the classes I took proceeded in a very interactive way. The students’ comments played an important part in class. That was where we really take a closer look at our life experiences through what we have learned. Although the inability of giving my opinion as a long speech like others got me struggled a little bit at first, I got the chance to observe how to run a discussion and force myself to learn to elaborate my ideas and perspectives in a better way. One of the classes I took in the first semester was music experience. At first, I was just curious about how do the professors here give a class in this subject since the classes like this in Taiwan were usually not taken seriously. Later on, it turned out to be a highlight in my first semester here. The class was designed to teach us about the basic understanding of classical music and orchestra. What I loved about this class was that it wasn’t just about memorizing the different era of music and identifying instruments but something more meaningful. As a musician himself, the teacher in this class works as an adjunct faculty in UWF. By his own experience in the classical music industry, he told us about the life cycle of classical music and how the streaming services affect those artists. Also, in this class, we were required to go to ten concerts. As a result, I found out there were many on-campus concerts each month, and required no admission for students. This made me realized how abundant the resources I could utilize here were. The other class I would recommend to IT majors was programming using C++ by Dr. Hawthorne. It was perfect for beginners who know nothing about C++. Dr. Hawthorne was hilarious and caring for students. He was amazing at explaining the code and providing clear step-by-step instructions for us to follow. The lectures were well thought out. The in-class labs were assigned during each class, Dr. Hawthorne was extremely patient at making sure every student was able to keep up with the context. And he replied emails fast and was even willing to meet students on campus if they have any question about programming. Taking this class was one of the best experiences I have at UWF.(388字)

(三)生活環境

照片說明:Pensacola beach

【照片說明:Pensacola beach】

Pensacola is a decent city to live in. Being part of the Sunshine State, Florida, most of the days here are sunny. Without the humidity in Taiwan and the dryness in the north, the weather is usually comfortable. In these two months, I lived in Village East, one of the on-campus apartments. The layout contains 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. All areas were equipped with very nice, brand-new furniture. The environment was overall quiet and each one of us has quite enough personal space and privacy. Moreover, the clubhouse at the entrance was equipped with a table tennis table, television, and a gym. The housing service also held various activities often, which let the residents get to know each other. Except for the location was a little bit far from other buildings and facilities, Village East is a very comfortable apartment. Around the campus, we are able to reach the supermarkets for food and living supplies by taking trolley. Like most cities in the US, it would be much easier to go around with a car. As for daily commute to class, most of the students go with on-campus trolley, bike or walk. The campus not only has beautiful landscapes but nature trails around. Students can take the boardwalk into the forest and swamps, and even borrow kayaks from the recreation service on campus to kayak over the waterway. Besides the campus, I went out to downtown and Pensacola beach often which are 20 minutes and 30 minutes’ drive away respectively. Pensacola beach is a must-go attraction in Pensacola. Unlike the other famous beaches around the US, Pensacola beach is less developed and less polluted. There's no crowd, no bunch of parasols and hotels occupying the whole shoreline. The crystal-clear water and the powdery, sugar-white sand along the shore make the place a paradise. I will personally recommend anyone to go there either in the early morning to see the sunrise or in the midnight when you might luckily see a certain kind of algae makes the sea sparkle.(340字)

(四)自我成長

照片說明:Local baseball game

【照片說明:Local baseball game】

At first, honing language skill seemed to be at the top of the list for me. But soon enough, I found that being able to explore the new environment and reach out to people that share a different culture were much more essential to substantially experience the very different life out here. In these two semesters, I encouraged myself to take part in what’s happening around me. Going to local events, parties and joining school programs for international students had been amazingly beneficial in terms of enriching my life here. I thoroughly enjoyed every single moment in the States, and found myself growing in many aspects as a student and as an individual. My initial thoughts to become more proficient at English led me to the other realization that learning a language is not just about the language itself but a much bigger deal that comes along with culture and customs. Also, staying here as an international student, I felt that besides having a positive attitude and good manner towards others, it was also important to learn the way people interact with one another in this culture. From responding to casual greetings to making small talks, all those daily communications require a basic understanding of American culture.(208字)

(五)大三出國建議

One of the tips I found useful was to feel comfortable asking questions. This can not only apply to the questions we have in class, but to the ones in our daily lives. When I was in Taiwan, I used to try to figure out everything by myself throughout the Internet which was time-consuming and not really efficient. In the other hand, having someone has the specialty in that certain field to consult with is going to make things much easier. Making phone calls, sending emails, making an appointment or any service that are accessible work. And when you do so, you are not annoying or stupid but just trying to figure out something or solve some problems, and helping you to solve the problems are exactly what some people’s jobs are and why those services exist. The other suggestion I’ll give is to arrange your schedule carefully. This includes the choice of course, professor and session time. Unlike the limited options we have in Taiwan, having a large number of courses to choose from, we are able to make a schedule works better for ourselves. Instead of simply skim through the course description, make sure to read through the whole syllabus and be aware of the policy and what tasks are coming up if you take the class. Also, looking up the reviews for professors that made by other students will give you considerably useful information about what to expect in this class beforehand. And be sure to make use of the flexibility of session time, make plans of when to go to class and what time of the day you want to keep to yourself.(279字)

(六)其他

(0字)

補充照片

照片說明:trampoline park trip
【照片說明:trampoline park trip】
照片說明:weekly badminton meetup
【照片說明:weekly badminton meetup】
點閱次數:821資料更新時間:03月28日 17:16
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