Pre-departure Information:
US Visa:
The process of obtaining a US VISA is fairly simple once you have received the DS2019. There are some fees to be paid, online forms to fill in and you have to make an appointment at the US embassy. My appointment took me about 15 minutes. After your VISA has been approved at the appointment, you will normally have your VISA and passport back within a week. You can choose where you want it posted to which is also very convenient.
Money:
One of the most important things to think about is money. I did some research and found that the cash passport card is a good account/card to take with when travelling abroad. The cash passport card is like a debit card. It is useful because you do not pay any fee when swiping the card. There is a fee when withdrawing money at an ATM though. You need flight tickets as proof of travelling to obtain a cash passport card. The cash passport card is also useful because if you happen to lose the card abroad, it can be replaced, unlike your SA bank card. TIP: Try to load as much money on the card as possible with one go. Every time you load money on the card you have to pay a fee. Also, make sure you know how to transfer currency to the card using online banking.
If you might be using your SA card abroad, remember to let your bank know. If you don’t, your bank will freeze your account.
Health documents:
The Americans are very strict with health regulations. Health care is also very expensive in the US. Montana State University requires certain students to take a TB screening test (depending on if you might have been in contact with TB). All exchange students from South Africa had to take a TB skin test. My advice is to just do everything they ask BEFORE you arrive at your exchange university. I went for a chest x-ray as proof that I don’t have TB but Montana State University didn’t accept it. They made me take the skin test. Later I had to take a blood test as well because the skin test resulted in a false positive. This all cost me more than $100 plus the R450 for the x-ray. NOT COOL…
Talk to your medical aid provider to find out about your coverage abroad. Ask for specifics. If you are going skiing, ask about it. Once again, medical aid is very expensive in the US!! It is also important to just let them know you are traveling abroad.
Extramural activities:
Do research and try to plan what sports you want to do so that you don’t have to buy new gear abroad.
Experience at host university:
When I arrived at Montana State University, everything except the roads was covered in about a meter of snow! The nearest ski resort is a mere 45 minute drive from campus, so if you are looking to go skiing, MSU is the place for you. In fact, I found that the MSU students are really adventurous, in general. Skiing, ice climbing (where you climb up frozen waterfalls), hiking, fishing, kayaking, Montana has it all! This suited my life style perfectly. It was like heaven on earth for me!
What really impressed me about Montana as a state, was the clean, natural beauty of it. Clean, fresh air, no litter ANYWHERE, and when the show melted later in the semester, the country was strikingly green with snow dipped mountains in the background. The MSU campus is also a tobacco-free campus with designated smoking areas here and there. Montana State University really encourages clean, healthy living.
While I was in America, a few categories in my life where taken care of. These were: shelter, food, internet and medical care. All the buildings were very well insulated and designed to withstand the cold during winters and the heat during summers. Most of the dining hall on campus opened at 7am and closed at 12pm. I bought a pass that allowed me unlimited access into the dining halls whenever they were open. The dining halls consisted of multiple all you can eat buffets. They had everything your heart desired, ranging from pizza and pastas to salads and hamburgers to ice cream and cake etc. The campus has two free Wi-Fi services, one is the free MSU-gust Wi-Fi and the other is a more secure service for students and MSU staff. All of the residence hall rooms were equipped with internet and cable TV ports. MSU has a student health centre for all your medical needs and is free for all MSU students! These were just some of the first world country perks which I enjoyed while traveling abroad.
While I was studying at MSU, I joined the MSU bobcat rugby club. Because rugby is not that popular in America, it was a small, tight knit group of people who played for the love of the game and each other. I made some good, solid friends in the rugby team and would encourage all upcoming exchange students to get involved in some way at their host university. I also went touring with the rugby team and got the chance to see a bit more of America, which was awesome!
MSU’s student exchange program is quite big, so I got the opportunity to meet and become friends with people from all around the world. MSU hosted introduction sessions for all of the exchange students to get acquainted. All of the exchange students had the same adventurous, outgoing attitude, which made it awesome to party and tour around with them!
Return to Stellenbosch:
I have made some good friends it Montana State University. Not just international friends, but also the 3 Stellenbosch students who went on exchange with me. The best American friends I made were from the MSU bobcat rugby team. In my opinion, sport is the best and fastest way to build relationships. You can tell a lot about a person from how he does sport. So I left MSU with mixed feelings. I was sad to end my great adventure and say goodbye to the good friends I have made, but I was also happy to be returning home and to see my family and friends again.
The exchange changed my perspective on how most people (I included) fall into a comfort zone, and loose that adventure lust and the will to try new things, to live a little! On my way back to SA I had a lot of time to think about how I would like to live out my final semester at Stellenbosch (it takes about 2 days to travel from USA to SA). I would like to be more adventurous, try new things, and get myself out of my comfort zone! I think once you do put yourself outside of your comfort zone and find out that you grew as a person, it becomes a little addictive. Once I arrived in SA, I bought myself rock climbing gear, a skateboard and got a new longboard. I don’t know when I will find the time to do all these activities, but I am keen for the challenge!
The exchange also gave me some perspective on people not living in South Africa. I found out that Americans are not necessarily smarter, dumber, richer or poorer than South Africans. They are just people like us. This sounds obvious but it’s actually quite strange to think that we are living half a world away from them, but we can have a conversation, tell jokes and laugh together just the same as with our fellow South Africans.
I went over to America not just for the experience to study abroad, but also with an open mind on my future plans regarding my career. Being a master student, I had a lot of contact with lecturers and MSU staff. I was able to make a good impression on my study leader at MSU. This resulted in MSU giving me the opportunity to do my PhD in Engineering at MSU next year. The reason why I am saying this is that there are opportunities all over the world. Just be open to new things and don’t be scared to ask! That is how I lined up the PhD opportunity at MSU!