Exchange at George Mason University
My name is Ulyana Sirotina, I’m almost a third year psychology student at HSE. In January’19 I participated in the student mobility program being supported by HSE and the Endowment Fund.
Generally speaking, I knew that HSE provides an opportunity to study abroad when I was applying there. It was one of the most crucial factors for me when I was choosing the institution of higher education.
And thanks to receiving the Endowment Fund scholarship, I was able to combine productive studies with active traveling within the US, and it ended up better than I could ever imagine!
The partnering university, George Mason University, was located in the state of Virginia, really near to Washington DC, an important transportation hub in the US. Due to this convenient location, I was able to easily visit big cities of the East Coast like Philadelphia, New York City and Boston. In the latter one I got to see famous Harvard university.
But my first trip in the US happened even before my studies started. When I was submitting some documents in the university office, I met another student who was standing in line. I started talking to him because I thought he was speaking Russian. He didn’t speak Russian, but he was playing in a music band. We started communicating and within a week I got invited to their concert in New York City! I came along with the band and never regretted it! It was so fun and that’s how I met my first friends in America who I still stay in touch with.
Also, in America I unexpectedly realized how much I liked to travel alone, defining my pace and path every day, deciding to see the whole city in one day or to relax enjoying the last sunset on the beach in Chicago. On a spring break which lasted like a week I managed to see three cities! In a month after that I went to Portland, OR, and I was amazed by the beauty of the mountainous beach and its little city near Pacific Ocean. I think it was the most picturesque scene I’ve ever seen in America. And I think the funniest place was Brighton Beach in New York City. This area is famous for its Russian speaking community and therefore many local shops and stores with names in Russian. Besides that, Russian savory pastries with eggs and onions that we had there was definitely a highlight for my British friend.
These trips made my experience in America more dynamic. I could apply the knowledge I was getting from my social psychology course to real life and analyze different situations. I have always been interested in intercultural communication and my experience in America confirmed my idea that whoever you meet, it’s important, in the first place, to see him or her as a human being, not as his nationality/culture. It helps to prevent from having stereotypes and prejudice towards somebody, offers a safe space for communication, the formation of friendship and, ultimately, cultural exchange.
It was surprising that I was never alone while traveling alone or being in a dorm; I felt so thankful to meet new people and listen to their stories. The language did not become a barrier at all, and everybody was understanding about the peculiarities of my pronunciation and were always happy to explain the meaning of a new word from still a bit unfamiliar slang.
It was also an interesting experience to use a service to search for local people willing to talk with travelers and offer them a shelter for several days (Couchsurfing). It is based on a non-commercial, sincere idea of cultural exchange, and it also turned out to be a wonderful way to make friends in a new environment.
It was also very funny and lovely to live side by side with American girls in the dorm and go through all kind of everyday situations. Imagine, they also have a plastic bag with plastic bags inside of it, and they, too, knock on the ceiling with a mop, if the neighbors become too loud! And before it seemed that only we, Russians, do that! Finding relatable things is a great way to connect with each other!
Regarding the academics, a significant part of my studying experience at George Mason University was conducting scientific research as part of the course work I needed to do for HSE. During that semester, I studied the influence of two types of meditation on students' emotions. It turned out to be very difficult to conduct this research, since the process of organizing research in American universities differs from Russian ones. For example, it was necessary to very quickly find an American supervisor and in addition, since I conducted an experiment with the participation of people, I had to collect a lot of documents and submit an application to the ethical commission of George Mason.
The ability to compare our university practices allowed me to reflect on the suggestions that could be shared and discussed with the head of our academic program.
Finally there was something else I was involved it, which presented both learning and recreation activity, being a constant part of my travel list. Visiting the art museums. Every time I got into a new large city, I always visited its Museum of Modern Art, trying to integrate it into the knowledge that I received during the distance learning of my minor on modern art. Museum practices were the theme of that semester, and as my final project, after I just arrived in Moscow, I compared the representation of contemporary art in the Portland Art Museum and Hirshhorn Museum. It was great to combine study and rest this way, not to mention my admiration of the fact that I was able to see the originals of the works that we discussed in the previous semester on the History of Art.
The organization of the studying process was also slightly different from the HSE system. Firstly, when choosing courses, I had to create my own schedule for the entire semester, that is, I myself decided whether I wanted to get up early every morning in order to finish my studies earlier and have three days off a week, or vice versa to stretch the workload throughout the week having only two days off.
Secondly, in the USA there was no division into lectures and seminars. In fact, all the classes were lectures, but with smaller groups than ours and the lecturer sometimes asked questions to the group. The courses that require work in various programs on the computer were a separate type of activity in computer classes. The final grade was calculated similar to the HSE system, each task/form of control weighed a certain number of points, then everything was summed together and the percentage of your points from all possible was calculated.
Thirdly, there were more exams / examinations, on each course there were 2-3 midterm exams and in some cases there were also a cumulative in the end. On the one hand, it helps to understand the material better, but those examinations were happening really often and it was a bit stressful.
Finally, the number of courses that can be taken per semester in Mason is significantly less than at HSE - only 4. But considering these frequent exams as well as coursework left from HSE, there was much to do in academic terms! In addition, there were many additional student clubs and associations at George Mason University. I, due to my academic orientation, was interested in the university center of psychological assistance to students. Different classes were held there from Monday to Friday. I liked to go to meditation on Wednesday, it was a good way to wind down during a difficult school week.
Finally, if you are also going to the USA, I have some tips for you:
- If you fly to the USA in winter, don’t forget to take some warm clothes, it feels as cold there as in Russia in the winter.
- Do not be afraid of your accent, there is a trace of your culture in it. And the fact that you can speak a foreign language is very cool!
- Make sure to make the most out of your schedule to have as many days off as possible! But don’t have 9am classes everyday, it can be exhausting :(
- Do not be afraid to travel alone, it is not scary at all! Get a sim card with the Internet to use navigation and a powerbank for your phone to have it changed, find cheap bus tickets (in the US buses are more affordable than trains or planes), install the Couchsurfing app and here you go!
I think this is all what I wanted to share about my experience. All the time that I was in the USA and even after I arrived, I have been thinking about how great it would be if more people knew about such an opportunity to get a semester abroad. Now I’m trying to share this information with my friends in the uni and help them by answering questions about participation in this program. Thank you very much, HSE and the Endowment Fund, for helping to follow my dreams. I am happy that I participated in this program.