A semester at UC Berkeley

by Finlay McGrath

My name is Fin and I spent a semester in the USA studying at UC Berkeley. My time overseas was unforgettable and there are many highlights of my time exploring the Bay Area. My three most memorable moments would have to be, going with friends to a sports bar to watch the Superbowl, going to a 49ers baseball game and exploring the city of San Francisco.

While the fun adventure stuff is very fun, If you are looking to go on your exchange to Berkeley there is the obvious academic side. Berkeley academics is not easy, harder than most Universities in the world, there’s a reason they rank as the top public school in the US/world. However, as long as you are prepared to put in the work you will have an amazing time working with prestigious faculty. I will admit the first round of midterms hit me like a truck.

On this exchange I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people through living at the International House; If you are going to ANY university on exchange find their I-House equivalent!!! Living in a full international dorm made my experience 10x better; It makes it so easy to meet new people who are also on exchange and share culture. The I-house would run events every Wednesday night with each week having a different cultural theme with food drinks and music from the home countries of the students.

Another tip would be to do your orientation! Orientation may seem pointless as you are only three for a semester and in the States they can drag on for days… BUT my orientation group introduced me to my best friends who I formed the best memories of the exchange with. Honestly no matter where you go for the exchange it doesn’t matter as long as you have great friends to hang out with it makes all the difference. My friends and I ended up doing the classic ‘summer trip’ to Seattle! I will include some photos at the end.

In terms of travel essentials I would say the usual stuff; Don’t overpack you will be surprised how little clothes you actually go through in a week. A big thing I would recommend is to take something as a hobby. I was able to take my electric guitar with me. If you play an instrument just take it! Having my guitar gave me gateways into extracurricular activities like the songwriting club at Berkeley. Clubs are important; bringing your hobby with you makes it much easier to share with others. I was able to play at late-night rooftop drunken open mics and I’ve gotta say it was like nothing else! Even if music isn’t your thing don’t worry, there is a club for everything and I mean everything – at Berkeley, there is a club where students take brooms and a football and play quidditch!

A closing thought for all those hoping to attend exchanges in the future: please put yourself out there. With things like this, you will only get out what you put in!