Tag Archives: College

SUNY Oswego, Goodbye

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“It’ll go by so fast, trust me,” a past exchange student told me back in April. It was a throw-away comment, a cliche – something I heard so often that I didn’t really know how to interpret. I clearly didn’t take their comment sincerely enough.

My experience of traveling exponentially faster through time began from thanksgiving. Typical of the diversity found in Queens, the thanksgiving dinner spent with my dorm-room neighbour was a delicious mix of Puerto Rican-Italian-American. Vegging out in front of the football was the only way to comfortably digest.

Black Friday shopping with my other neighbour in White Plains, partying in Manhattan and amazing Thai food in Park Slope tied up this week-long pre-break before finals week.

Dreaded finals week. I guess I was aimlessly wandering around the few weeks before because I wasn’t anywhere near ready. This is when people you normally see out no longer venture any further than their room or the library.

“I’ll have it all done by Wednesday,” I promised myself. I just needed one more essay done by Friday, the last day of college. The final 24 hours of my semester went a little something like this:

  • Friday 16th December, 10:34am – Return from a hungover breakfast to finish my film theory paper, due by midday.
  • 12:05pm – Out of breath and sick to my stomach from running to submit my paper, I’m feeling elated. One final workout at the gym before it closes, then lunch.
  • 2:47pm – The five cups of coffee are still working, but not enough to counter my procrastination of packing my bags. I decide my time is best spent with some friends I may not ever see again.
  • 7:30pm – A farewell supper at the Red Sun. Seared Ahi tuna with a cold soba noodle and beetroot salad. Ommegang Rare Vos to wash it down. Yes.
  • 9:48pm-2:18am – The bars.
  • Saturday 17th December, 2:42am-? – Crazy antics with the people I’ve grown to love in my residence hall.
  • 8:32am – Gladly woken after just a couple of hours of sleep, my room is a mess and I haven’t packed a single thing. We have to get out by 10am.
  • 10:18am – I’m checked out, somehow. After breakfast, the few of us who still remain say our final goodbyes. Emotion is raw but we manage to stem most of it off with promises that we’ll see each other again. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil. An overdue trip to Europe. An imminent professional life in New York for myself someday.

What you get out of the exchange experience comes down to how much you put in. Thanks to my friends, professors and fellow exchange students at SUNY Oswego, I’m wholeheartedly satisfied with my semester abroad.

Getting Into It

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Nearly five weeks have zipped by at SUNY Oswego and I’ve established that over here it’s very much a work-hard/play-hard mentality.

Comparing my current study to back home, there’s definitely more readings. There’s more classroom hours, more books and more assessable credit opportunities. There aren’t as many 3000 word assignments but the mini theses and pop quizzes keep you on your toes.

Learning the ins and outs of the American political system and making sure I spell certain words with a “zee” has also been tough. Luckily I’ve got all 468 pages of the Associated Press style book to familiarize myself with… Yippee!

Something I’m greatly enjoying getting used to though is having the New York TImes delivered to my own labeled cubby hole (pigeon hole for those back home).

However, it’s funny thinking of activities I’d do in my own downtime. This concept has slowly transformed into something else. As a result of being five minutes away from my classes, the gym and a dining hall, I’m always “doing” something.

There’s also the 6 a-side intramural soccer games, the extracurricular essays and the five hours community service I have to do to prevent being kicked out of my dorm. I don’t remember signing up for that!

Do I feel like a beer or eight after all of that? Heck yeah I do! Don’t worry, there’s plenty of opportunity to for that. According to Newsweek, SUNY Oswego is the nation’s 25th best party school.

It definitely has something to do with everyone living on-campus or within very close proximity to the college. In most of Australia’s universities (located in major cities), 30% – 60% of the time you might show up for your lecture, then face the inner-city public transport commute home. Here, socializing with fellow students is a daily occurrence. Wherever you are you’ll bump into someone you know, in the library, at lunch or at a party.

In a snapshot, this has been college life so far.

Oswego Arrival

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My first week at Oswego started a little rocky. Coming into town I was on two hours of sleep after a six hour bus trip and my faithful Nokia I’ve had for more than four years was left with a broken screen after one clumsy drop.

At the time I wasn’t feeling like this was the beginning of a life-changing experience. Nevertheless, after spending half the day and $50 finding a phone repair shop, I was ready to take the the SUNY Oswego shuttle to campus.

It was a mild blue sky day with a perfect 20-30% cloud ratio. Even surly and sleep deprived it was hard not to appreciate the beauty of Oswego’s vibrant green surroundings and serene lakeside.

With only international and exchange students having arrived, the campus was as quiet as a cemetery. However, I only had about five minutes stretched out on a sheet-less bed before a fellow Aussie exchange student knocked on my door.

It was great to hear a familiar accent and talk about Vegemite but I really thought I’d be the only Australian on campus. I didn’t expect to be one of four. Wether they’re travelling, working or performing Taoist monk ceremonies, It further proves my theory that there are Aussies in just about every corner of the globe.

The seemingly endless orientation seminars and spiels dragged on for what felt like a lot more days than had actually passed. Impromptu swims at sunset in Lake Ontario did brake it up though and taking it easy for a week was the much needed Ambien that Manhattan forgot to slip me.

The weekend came with the arrival of my room-mate and our neighbours. It was great hanging around with them, not so great having to repeat trips to Walmart to buy coat-hangers and laundry detergent. I’ve never felt such a place suck the life out of me more than Walmart.

From beer to slippers, they nearly do have everything under the sun. That’s why I was more than a bit annoyed when I had to venture into Syracuse to find a decent sized wok.

Walmart aside, I look forward to doing readings by the Lake, partying with my roomy and waking up five minutes walk from class.

Anticipation

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I don’t know what I’m looking forward to most.

In a week I’ll be relocating to upstate New York for six months to study. The first month will be a whirlwind of travel before I even set foot in my college dorm.

Like so much of my life, football will dictate where my travels will take me. The MLS All-Stars vs. Manchester United will keep in the Big Apple for the first week. So I’ll first rest my head at Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Birthplace of Biggie and Jay-Z. It also happens that Aussie radio hosts Hamish and Andy will be taping their new show in BK. Another QUT exchange student and I will be there in the studio.

I’ve then got two and half weeks until NY Red Bulls vs. Chicago Fire back in NYC. Conveniently, Toronto’s Festival of Beers will be on to fill in time and give me another destination to aim for. Not a lot could prevent me from sampling many, many beers on a Canadian summer’s day.

Before I return to Manhattan, I’m also stopping off in Montreal and Boston.

Its hard to believe this will all be happening so soon. I still have to complete tasks as mundane as photocopying my passport and deciding which jeans to take. All I can do is hope that I achieve everything I want during my last week at home and prepare for a life-changing experience abroad.