Hello guys, gals, and non-binary pals and welcome back to my blog! As you know, I spent the past semester studying in Aotearoa New Zealand at the University of Canterbury (UC). Overall, the experience was absolutely amazing, and I would highly recommend studying abroad. I had little international experience before, so getting to see what life is like outside of the United States was really eye-opening. One of the things that surprised me the most though was how classes were structured at UC.
I took three courses while abroad: GEOL-247 Forensic Palaeontology; GEOL-356 Field Focused Research Methods; and MAOR-172 Science, Māori, and Indigenous Knowledge. During GEOL-356 we split into different research groups of 3-4 people and worked on a large project for the entirety of the course. We had assignments that were due every 2 weeks where we had to complete a rough draft for different parts of the overall research paper (i.e. introduction, methods, results, etc.). This course only had 10 people in it, and I found it really similar to my previous Amherst College courses. I got to do lab work, go out in the field to help other groups collect data, and overall learn more about the research process. Below are some photos from the lab work we got to do!
GEOL-247 and MAOR-172 were structured very differently though. For both of these courses, we only had 4 assignments during the entire semester, and 50% of our final grade came from how well we did on the final exam. I found this mode of learning to be frustrating at times because I needed to hold myself accountable for keeping up with the course material and felt a lot of pressure to do well on those 4 assignments as they counted for most of my grade. I felt like I forgot things in these courses very easily, and they focused more on memorizing information and less on learning theory and then using material examples to provide evidence for the theory. These courses had about 60 people taking them, and I found it difficult to talk to the professors outside of class because of this. My paleontology course did have a lab element though, which I found to be the most helpful! We were able to examine fossils, look at pollen samples, and analyze foraminifera (tiny micro-fossils) under microscopes
Overall, my coursework was a lot less than it typically would be at Amherst. I missed being in small classes though, and felt like I lacked the personal connection with my peers and professors that I was used to. I still found some ways to get to know people in my classes and make new friends though, but it felt a lot more difficult to do this at times. Because of the reduced workload, I was able to use my time to explore the South Island, learn new skills (I can crochet now), and create art. It felt like I was able to take time to reflect on what I actually wanted from my college experience and what sort of things interested me. I feel like after studying abroad, I know myself a lot better, and I have a greater understanding of what types of possibilities are out there.