San Diego is a wonderful city. It is right by the sea, the climate is wonderful and there are so many sights that even after half a year you have the feeling that you have not yet seen everything. You have everything your heart desires in San Diego. You can enjoy the most beautiful beaches in California , learn to surf (if you don’t take a “surf class” at university), go hiking to Potato Chip Rock or Torrey Pines or simply enjoy a delicious cocktail at the beach bars. Not to be forgotten and my personal absolute highlight are the tacos or Taco Tuesdays(in the backyard). Every Tuesday there was a Taco Tuesday Special in many bars, where you could always meet many of the international students and make new friends. Downtown San Diego also has a lot to offer. Chic restaurants and nightlife options in the Gaslamp Quarter or just go for a walk in the beautiful harbor. There is something for everybody.
When I arrived in San Diego, the first thing I did was drive to my accommodation to “arrive” and unpack my things. For the next two days I then dealt with my surroundings. Where is the next bus going, where is the best place to go shopping, which SIM card makes the most sense, etc.
Then there was the first event at the new university to welcome all exchange students. The first week there were lots of activities, mostly voluntary, that you could participate in. It was a great way to get to know the other students. You can quickly find fellow students who have the same course or the same interests.
It was during my time at San Diego State University that I came to love this student community most of all. Because the campus is practically a city of its own, people met before or after the lectures in the gym, in the swimming pool or to play football and so on.
As a bachelor’s student, I took four courses, which was a prerequisite for being a full-time student. The SDSU has a special program for business administration students , which was another reason why I chose this university. There are so-called “Business Courses” and “General Courses”. The Business Courses are special courses only for international students in the business administration area, where you have the guarantee that you can take at least two courses and for which you can also register in advance. You can only register for the General Courses on siteas you know from your own university at home. Here you have no guarantee of getting a place in the respective course and you also compete for places with the American “home students”. I was lucky and got three special sessions and a general course.
Check topschoolsintheusa for more about The College of Business Administration at San Diego State University.
Courses
First of all, it should be said that there is a big difference in the American system from the German system in that there is a lot of homework, quizzes and group work to be done, which contribute almost the same proportion to the final grade as the two to four exams per course. In addition, there is compulsory attendance, which was always checked at the beginning of the lesson and also makes up part of the grade, usually 10-20%.
BA 350 Management and Organizational Behavior (General Course)
This course with Amy Randel was the only general course I had, which you first noticed from the fact that it took place in a large lecture hall with several hundred students. The content of the course was interesting, but it was sometimes difficult to follow the professor due to the large lecture hall. In this course there was occasionally small homework to be done and a total of four exams, of which you had to write at least three (the final exam was compulsory). The professor conveyed the content well through group games, etc., which made the course a lot of fun.
BA 360 Introduction to Operation and Supply Chain Management
The course with Professor Y. Helio Yang was a very demanding course with a lot of work to be done. There were two weekly homework plus a quiz to do, had to submit the online what several hours time to took. There were also four exams, all of which were compulsory. Even if this course was really very demanding and time-consuming, I can say that you take a lot with you and, above all, keep it because you do so much for it and thus repeat it several times.
MGT 352 Human Resource Management
In this course at Zeki Pagda I was able to take away a lot of interesting content. Even if the course was punished by its lecture time (Wednesday evenings from 7-10: 40pm), it was still interesting. The professor was a bit difficult to understand because of his accent, but he was very friendly and dedicated. In this course, several quizzes were carried out, two exams (30%) and one group work (30%) were asked, all of which influenced the grade to a certain extent.
MGT 475 Leadership in Organizations
This course with Mark E. Nicholson was by far my favorite course. After the very first lecture, I almost panicked because I thought I would never make it. He expected a lot and it was very demanding, but in the end this course was the most fun and successful for me. The “main task” in this course was a group work (in groups that were made by the professor) in which one should sustainably improve a thing in San Diego. One of his examples was helping the homeless in San Diego, and doing it sustainably. My group ended up cleaning up the beaches and seas in San Diegoand to ensure that people are more aware of it. For this group project there were several tasks that had to be submitted over time, in collaboration with the group, but there was also individual homework, such as writing an autobiography about yourself or making a statement about your “Personal Mission in Life”. There were also two exams. It all sounds like a lot, it was also time-consuming, no question about it, but the group work made a lot of things easier, easier and faster than expected and most importantly, more fun! I can only recommend this course to you.
I also particularly enjoyed all of the sporting activities at the university. The university has its own football team and basketball team, each with its own stadium. And for every game, all of the university’s students meet to cheer on their own team. This naturally creates a huge community, something I’ve never experienced before. Every game was a huge event with “free drinks and pizza” and “free t-shirts”, of course with the team’s logo.
Travel
I can only recommend you to use the weekends or days off to travel a lot. One thing I would personally recommend to anyone is to travel along the west coast. I did this in my free time before the lectures started and was also very happy about this decision in retrospect. There are tons of great sights along the west coast, especially I would like to recommend Highway # 1 to you. Personally, I drove down Highway Number One from Monterey, through Big Sur to Los Angeles. But I gave myself five to six days to do this. In addition to the west coast, of course, there are those tooNot to forget canyons. From the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon and Horseshoe Bend to Joshua Tree National Park (just a two to three hour drive from San Diego), each national park is unique in its own way.
Conclusion
All in all, I can say that doing a semester abroad was the best decision. In addition to the chance to be to significantly improve English and know new cultures and people to learn , you will clearly independent and self-conscious because you are put there first time completely on his own. This semester abroad has brought me a lot personally and I can only advise everyone to do a semester abroad as well. These experiences and experiences stay with you and shape your future life. I am so grateful that I was able to experience this time, it was one of the best times of my life! So if you have the chance to do a semester abroad, be sure to use it!
