Mark Feaver Exchange Report: September-December 2013
In 2013 I was accepted by the University of Waikato to participate on an exchange to the
University of California - Santa Barbara. On September the 9th I flew out of Auckland
International Airport, and after a stopover in Sydney, arrived in Los Angeles International Airport
about 24 hours later. A two hour bus ride later, and I was in Santa Barbara.
Rather than live close to the campus in
Isla Vista, I had decided to stay in
Downtown Santa Barbara. This was
because my girlfriend was going to be
joining me in October, and we wanted
to live closer to downtown. We were
living with two American guys - both
working professionals in their early 20s.
While living with the other international
students in Isla Vista would have been
a lot of fun, I felt like I really got to know
a lot more about American life in
general by living with the locals. Even
the little things were interesting, like going to the supermarket or laundromat together, going out
for dinner on Mondays at our local Thai restaurant “Your Place, or getting to know some of their
friends and family.
Santa Barbara is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Immense wealth, amazing
architecture, with a beach in the west and mountain ranges in the east (great for hiking) meant
that there was always something to see and take photos of. The Santa Barbara Mission is a
great place to check out for those that are interested in the history of Santa Barbara, and there
are amazing restaurants down State Street. Also, clothes, food, and alcohol are really cheap in
Santa Barbara, so make sure to bring some money to spend downtown.
UCSB is also an amazing campus.
Everyone rides pushbikes, and they have
roundabouts and roads just for cycles. The
campus was founded in 1891, and therefore
there is a lot of history, and some great old
buildings. There are also turtles in the
fishpond.
Compared to Waikato University, there are
some major differences between the course
structure and administration at UCSB. For a
start, there are a lot more examinations and
“quizzes” throughout the courses. This, and the fact that each quarter is only 10 weeks long
(compared to Waikato’s Semester system) took some getting used to, and proper time
management is very important. Also, the course content is much harder - at least in graduatelevel Computer Science courses. Therefore, I changed one of my courses from a Computer
Science major to a pass-fail (i.e. non-letter grade) course on 19th Century French Architectural
History. Not only was the course content interesting, but it helped to reduce my workload.
There were some aspects of studying at UCSB that
were frustrating. One of these was the course
administration website - UCSB Gold. Compared to
Waikato’s Moodle system, Gold was very awkward
to use; course enrollments proved especially
complicated. I found that I was often much better off
just emailing the professors or teacher aids directly
to resolve problems. Another annoying aspect of
studying at UCSB is that all freshmen and transfers
have to complete a mandatory Alcohol Awareness
program. While I understand the benefits of such
programs, it does take quite a few hours to
complete.
UCSB has a reputation for being a party college.
The main party street, Del Playa, has one of the
best party scenes in the world. While this can be a
lot of fun, I would not recommend living on Del
Playa unless you are willing to put up with loud
music and partying every night of the week. Additionally, around Halloween Del Playa (and Isla
Vista in general) is chaotic. Tens of thousands of people come into Isla Vista just to party, and
the streets are crowded with people dressed up in crazy costumes. There are also very strict
liquor bans in place, with zero tolerance given by the patrolling police officers.
Due to the large amount of course content and assessments, as well as a lack of money, I did
not get as many opportunities to travel around the US as I would have liked. However, I did get
to see both Los Angeles and Las Vegas. One of the benefits of living with Americans was that
they had family members living in LA, and we stayed with the parents of one of my roommates.
This meant that we got to experience LA not only as tourists, but as locals, checking out some
of the local restaurants and night clubs.
In late November, myself and three other exchange students travelled to Las Vegas. This was
easily one of the best experiences of my life, and I would definitely recommend seeing the city.
Las Vegas has some of the best casinos, night clubs, and restaurants in the world. Make sure to
take lots of spending money.
I feel I have made many lifelong friends during my time in Santa Barbara. I have made friends
with other exchange students from Germany, the UK, Norway, Sweden, and Australia, as well
as the Americans that I was living with. As well as making friends, my time in the US has greatly
helped my career prospects. The US contacts that I have made due to websites such as
LinkedIn as well as attending university presentations provided me with many chances to
network, and even a few job interviews while I was in the US.
In summary, I loved my exchange experience to the University of California - Santa Barbara. I
met many amazing people, and being given the opportunity to study at a prestigious university
such as UCSB has already helped my career prospects greatly. To anyone considering studying
abroad in the US, I would tell them to just do it, and I would also offer the following
recommendations: bring lots of spending money, get to know some local Americans, get
involved and travel with some of the other exchange students, eat lots of Mexican food, start
course assignments early, take lots of photos, and try to make the most of what will be one of
the experiences of a lifetime.