Kaitlyn in St. Croix

       St. Thomas was AMAZING to say the least! I had such a good time and enjoyed our week over there on their campus. The best part was the food and my least favorite thing was the sleeping arrangements. The food was delicious, we had quite a wide variety and I got some of my favorite items I've been missing like pork sausage, ribs, and breakfast items! The rooms were just tight and I couldn't imagine sleeping there for an entire semester, maybe in another dorm, but this specific one was two small for two people.      I aside from the food and rooms, I loved the campus. There was lots of walking and big hills, but they have a beach on the campus, sports, and life is so much busier over there. We went on an island tour to learn some history of the island but for the most part our days were jam packed with basketball games during the HBCU Classic. Some of the universities from the states came down and played in several games during the week....

Some students decided to host a small gathering in the dorms for Halloween. Our dorms are suite style, so 3 rooms in each and a common area, so it was easy to move the furniture to allow people to dance. We had music, food, costumes, and fun. I kept my costume pretty simple and dressed as a cat. I found the ears in Puerto Rico at Walmart. I wanted to actually dress up this year but time flew by so quickly.  The school hosted a trip to UVI St. Thomas, so I quickly signed up to secure a spot.  Only the first 30 students were able to go. I initially thought it was a day trip, but it was actually almost a week. I notified my professors and got my bags all packed up for St. Thomas. I was so excited for this experience because I was so curious what life was like over in St. Thomas.  A day before departure my phone blacked out, so I had to go to T-Mobile to get a new phone. This was a bummer because I lost some of my photos and this was just so unexpected. Nonetheless, I was sti...

      Like I mentioned in my last blog, a  few of the NSE students decided to take a trip over to Puerto Rico. We left early Friday morning and headed over to San Juan. Our first stop was the mall, we were so amazed! We haven’t seen a mall and food court in so long, so we were definitely excited! It felt so good to see so many people. St. Croix is small so you run into a lot of the same people, on and off campus.      We spent the rest of our day checking out the town. For dinner, we had a delicious Italian restaraunt. Our Airbnb was so nice and spacious for the 4 of us! On Saturday, we got up and went to San Juan National Historic Site to take pictures and walk around. We went to the beach and the waves were strong. I hadn't realize how different St. Croix's beaches were from other beaches. The beach we went to was what I am use to, no rocks and you gradually walk out to the deep parts. That night we went out and had a place called Raices for di...

     A few NSE students decided to go to Puerto Rico because it is a short flight (40 mins) away. We booked our flights and got all packed up. My week was pretty hectic. Aside from packing and getting excited for my trip, I had lots of work to do. I had to do a presentation that had a total of 80 slides for one of my classes. It wasn’t too bad because there’s only one other student in the class and I did well, just wish I didn't have to present on so much information at once.       I also received a scholarship from my church, so this was great news! I’m most excited for the mall next weekend in San Juan. I know we will have a blast! My other classes are going well. I try to call home to my family pretty often, or atleast shoot a text. The days feel so long here, but also go by so fast at the same time. I got to go to the grocery store and get some watermelon, I appreciate small things such as this. The cafeteria doesn't have a wide variety of fruits...

     We had a pajama themed movie night! We all dressed in our favorite pjs and headed to the local cinema on Tuesday. We saw The Addams Family, I have never seen the original but I enjoyed this one. I mentioned this in a previous blog but I love the movie theatre prices and food selection available here. Our dance midterm was both a written test and a choreographed dance. I was not too excited for this because I know very little about dance. However, I enjoyed the assignment and got wonderful feedback from my professor.       Recieving mail here has been pretty dificult, but I ordered a package from Amazon and got it in a few days so that was great! However, i'm still waiting on a package my dad mailed from back home. This has been one of the best week since I got here. It just felt very refreshing and I got some much needed sleep. On Saturday, we went to the beach, I got to have Louie and Nacho's again. When I find something I like, I pretty much...

Midterm week is finally here! It's actually more like two weeks, this week and the next because my assignments and assessments are kinda spaced out. I haven't really done much this week besides study and go to my classes. It's crazy to think that i've been here for almost two months. I found a local tattoo shop and went to get the ankh symbol on Wednesday. This is a pretty common Ancient Egyptian symbol, it means life. I took my first exam on Thursday night, it was much more difficult than I imagined. It was about 100 questions with everyhting we've ever discussed in class, every class example and all. My other classes are going pretty well! I enjoy projects and I've actually had quite a few in all of my other classes. This was a fairly slow week. I got Covid tested again on Saturday, we are tested every two weeks and I was negative! I hope to plan some day trips in the near future and more outings as my time here winds down.

Another week closer to midterms! This week we had a Resource Pop Up Fair so I was happy to see more people. Coming from such a large school and seeing so many faces everyday to seeing the same few people is certainly an interesting experience. I also miss having reliable trasnportation and being around many restaraunts. Nonetheless, my weekend was very exciting! On Friday, we had a large movie night (the girls in my suite and the suite across the hall). We watched Lady Bird, a coming of age movie about a highschool girl who had issues with her mother. I enjoy living in the dorms because we get to go to one another's suites and hang out all the time. On Saturday, we woke up bright and early and headed out to the thrift shop. Suprisingly, we were all able to find some items. The shop wasn't very big but I would say there was a decent selection of clothing. I got a orange button down shirt, two piece tan set, some scarves, and a black purse all for only $12. We will definitely b...

No class on Monday made the week fly by! Some of my classes were cancelled for some reason this week, so this was a pretty chill week. I had one of my first major assignments, which was a group powerpoint presentation on a research topic. We presented via zoom and everything went geat! On Friday, I went out to a local lounge in Christiansted, my friends and I did karaoke. Well they did all the singing and I was there to laugh and cheer them on. I also experienced Point Udall and got to see shooting stars for the first time. Point Udall is the easternmost part of the United States. I was totally convincved shooting stars was something that only occured in movies. On Saturday morning, everyone went zip lining, but I stayed in for some much needed sleep. I love how the university offers so many events and activities. I know its not the same because of Covid, but they try to make sure we still are having fun. Classes are going great so far. I miss football like crazy, both UofSC footb...

 All I could think about all week was the long, relaxing weekend ahead. On Friday night, we had a movie night in one of my friend's suites. They wanted to watch Twilight and I had never seen it, so we watched them all. Surprisingly, I enjoyed them a lot! I generally stick to two movie genres: comedy and romance. I need to branch out and watch other movies because I'm sure I miss so many great movies. On Saturday, I was finally able to take pictures for Instagram, after being here almost a month. This was my way of letting friends and family I haven't spoke too that I'm doing just fine.  On Sunday, I went to the beach and had a relaxing evening. Monday was the Island Tour sponsored by the university. We started our morning learning a cultural dance. I was lost for a while, but eventually caught the hang of the dance and had fun. We toured a local farm and learned lots of neat information about their crops and processing. After lunch, we got to give beer to the beer drink...

Another long week! Classes are going great so far, I have classes everyday. This means I also have assignments most days. I've been doing pretty good with managing my school work and social life. This week's first activity was "Safe Sex and Coladas" and I had a delicious s'mores milkshake.  My weekend was very exciting! I went on a shopping trip with my roommate on Friday. We both got bags and bags of clothes and shoes. The only bad part about this was walking to the nearest bus stop with our heavy bags. It was all worth it! On Friday night, we went bowling and I am still horrible at bowling. There were several rounds where I had zero points, but I had a great time hanging out with everyone!  On Saturday, I spent all day at a local beach. I'm used to lots of sand on the beach with occasional seaweed. This beach had rocks as soon as you enter the water, so I slipped several times. It felt amazing floating in the water. We grabbed a bite to eat at a local restau...

Classes started on Monday and I was so nervous because I had no idea what to expect. This semester, I  have 2 classes via zoom and 3 classes in-person. I love the in-person classes because I get to interact with people and I'm tired of online classes. My professors are lovely so far, my largest class has about 20 students and my smallest one is 2 students (another student and I). Campus is very small compared to UofSC. There are also only a few classrooms, so I definitely can't get lost.  Residence Life hosts many events throughout the week and I am very grateful for that. This week, we had  a game night, a paint night, and ended the week with a trip to the local movie theater. I was so surprised by the food prices! Everything was affordable compared to movie theater food at home, which is so expensive. I remember a small popcorn and drink was $4, they also had wings, quesadillas, nachos, hotdogs, and so much more. We saw Protege, which was an amazing movie, and I would r...

This has been a busy first week! I arrived last Sunday and have enjoyed every minute since. My heart was racing leaving the airport because I had no idea what my next few months would be like away from home. Everyone on campus was very welcoming and I made friends immediately.  I was pleased with my roommate and began unpacking. I was able to unpack and set up my room pretty quickly because I could only bring two suitcases worth of stuff. There's no AC here in the dorms, so I purchased a fan to keep us cool. I would say I've been most surprised by some of the price differences. Most foods are about double, if not triple the price of the states. Items like chips, caprisuns, and microwavable meals are much higher.  Throughout the week, I met some of the other NSE students and learned the dos and donuts on the islands from the locals here. They reminded me to always speak to everyone and greet them with "morning," "afternoon," or "night" depending on ...

Personal Goals:  Personally, I want to be able to grow as an individual. This experience of being away from family and friends for a long period of time is new to me. I want to be able to not only meet new people, but form relationships that last far beyond my time there. I want to fully experience all that St. Croix has to offer as far as food, music, traditions, etc. I also want to try at least one thing out of my comfort zone!  Academic Goals:  Academically, I hope to excel in the classroom. I'm interested to see how their lectures and use of technology for assignments works. I know this will be different from my home university in many areas. I am looking forward to the classes I will be taking because these are classes not offered at UofSC. I hope to gain lots of knowledge and insight to bring back to my home university.  Bucket List:  1. Snorkeling 2. Trying foods exclusive to the U.S. Virgin Islands 3.Traveling over to Puerto Rico I am definitely excited ...

I decided to participate in the National Student Exchange program to experience a school and culture outside of my own. I had no idea what to expect but nonetheless, I was eager to find out more information and apply. I wanted tropical location, so St. Croix was at the top of my list! The initial application process was fairly smooth, there were several steps on the checklist to complete. My circumstance was special because I was a transfer student with a strict course load. This was a once in a lifetime experience, so I decided to write a petition to my college to shift a few courses around. I'm happy to say my advisor was helpful throughout the process and I got my petition approved. Upon approval,  I was able to complete my application with no problem. I can't describe the emotions I went through when I found out I received a placement at the University of Virgin Islands, St. Croix. I spoke with the director at my host school and got the classes I needed fairly quickly. I am...

Welcome! I'm Kaitlyn Jackson. I'm from Columbia, South Carolina, where I attend the University of South Carolina majoring in Elementary Education. This fall I will be attending the University of Virgin Islands, St. Croix. I am a participant in the National Student Exchange Program that allows undergraduate students to study away at another institution. Students from all across the U.S. have so many options to choose from including Canada and U.S. territories. I'm excited for this wonderful opportunity and can't wait to be on the island!