Exchange in San Diego

I have only 4 weeks left of my time abroad in San Diego and I can definitely say that I have had one of the most exciting and eye-opening experiences of my life. San Diego has so much to offer from the nightlife, to the beaches to the amazing landscapes and not to mention the beautiful university of San Diego State.

As soon as I stepped foot on campus I was blown away by the beauty of this place. It is an enormous campus with beautiful gardens and Spanish style architecture buildings. The facilities are nothing shy of astonishing. They have a 2 level gym with a rock climbing wall, sprint track, courts, yoga studios and every piece of equipment that you could think of. There are multiple stadiums, in which I was lucky enough to watch our team play basketball in which we made it to the championships of the NCAA Division 1 for the first time in history where they had a watch party at the stadium filled with over 12,000 students. The best thing is, all the facilities on campus are free for students, including all SDSU sporting events. The classrooms as well are all state of the art, with observatories, labs and a 6 story library.

In regards to studying, I chose to complete all my elective subjects for my degree abroad. These subjects included history, astronomy, Italian and weight lifting subject. They have different recreational subjects that are 1 unit such as surfing, salsa dancing, bowling etc. Definitely choose one of these subjects if you are looking to fill units and also meet new people. I highly recommend, if possible, to do subjects that UTS do not offer as it is a fun way to experience studying in a different country. Also keep in mind that the teaching style is very different. You will require to complete homework every week for every subject. It is generally small tasks like quizzes or summaries. Whereas back home I am used to two group assignments and an exam which all are due at the end of the semester. Good thing about the US style is that you can track your progress throughout the semester and not rely on high weighted assignments to determine whether you pass or fail.

The college lifestyle is definitely how it is depicted in the movies. If you are interested in Greek life, SDSU is for you as it one of the biggest party campuses in the US. Although it is very exclusive, you can be lucky enough to join a fraternity or sorority. However, you can get into party’s if you know someone in these clubs, which in my opinion is definitely the better option.

Now to San Diego itself. San Diego has a very similar feel to Sydney. The beach culture and lifestyle is very popular and it has a very good nightlife with multiple different areas to party on depending on the night. People in San Diego are generally very friendly, and what I have discovered from my travels everyone in the world is fascinated by Australians. Use this to your advantage! San Diego also has a very big food culture as well. Being so close to Mexico the influence is huge, so you can find so many good Mexican restaurants and shops. As there is not much Mexican food in Sydney, definitely do your best to eat as much as you can because it does not compare to back home.

Another positive about San Diego, or California in general, is the opportunity it brings to travel to different destinations in short windows which makes in generally inexpensive. California is an amazing state as you can drive 2hrs from San Diego and be skiing in the mountains or camping in the desert. There are so many beautiful national parks, beaches and cities that you can visit and because everything is so close its convenient for weekend trips away. I have travelled to Santa Barbara, San Louis Obispo, San Jose, Las Vegas just to name a few. The good thing about San Diego is also how close it is to Mexico. I attended spring break in Cabo San Lucas, which was one of the best weeks ever. People from all over the United States travel to Mexico for spring break and it is a lot of fun meeting new people from different parts of the US.

However, keep in mind if you want to travel you will definitely need a car! I hired a car with my roommate for 4 months and it is definitely a good investment because the public transport system is atrocious and scarce. Keep this in mind also when choosing accommodation as you do not want to choose housing too far from the university otherwise it will make it very difficult. I am living off-campus at an apartment complex called BLVD63 (highly recommend if you do not want to stay on campus), which provides shuttle services to the university every weekday.  

If there is one more thing to leave you with it is talk to everyone and anyone, especially on campus! I have met people from all over the world who I can call good friends now and will stay in touch with these people for the rest of my life. A good way to meet new people is to join a sports club if you can. I joined the SDSU rugby team and it was the best thing I did. It opens up so many possibilities and networking for different friendships. I have friends now who are involved in different parts of university life from leaders of a frat to people who work in student services. Trust me this comes in handy if you want to attend parties or need help with anything student related. There is a fee to join the teams (varies on type of sport and which division the team is in) however, I got the opportunity to travel to different parts of California to play rugby and it was a lot of fun.

If you are heading off to San Diego to study abroad, good luck you will have the time of your life!

Zachary Ienco

Bachelor of Construction Project Management

Global Exchange student at San Diego State University, US

Global Exchange scholarship recipient