California State University, Fullerton(CSUF) is a rapidly growing campus located in southern California about half an hour away from Los Angeles. Our student body consists of a diverse community from many different cultures; this is essential to what makes CSUF such a great place to study. Also you cannot forget that the beach is only a 20 minute drive away, the weather is always nice, with the exception of a few rainy days. During my three years at CSUF I have noticed each year more and more international exchange students choosing CSUF as their study abroad destination. For the past three semesters I have worked as an English tutor on campus so I was lucky enough to engage with exchange students from China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Dubai and several other countries in an academic setting.
Year after year, CSUF is recognized for its effort to provide a high level of education for its students with outstanding faculty, small class sizes, and for a reasonable price. Rising tuition costs is a consistent problem within the university system, but CSUF is actively working to keep that cost down with the cooperation between students, faculty, and administrators of our campus. The synergy between these individuals on campus gives us a sense of community and unity when progressing toward an affordable education that everyone deserves.
Outside of the classroom CSUF also offers a wide variety of clubs for students to join in. At the start of every semester “Discoverfest” is held during the first two weeks, serving as an opportunity for students to find clubs on campus that they are interested in. There are many clubs spreading over a wide spectrum of audiences. Just to name a few, there are the Hot Glass Club, Archery Club, Belly Dancing Club, Geology Club and the organization I was personally involved in, Titan Online Radio. CSUF hosts a variety of opportunities for students to get involved, network, and meet other students with common interests.
Associated Students Inc. or “ASI” is an organization run by current students on campus that provides events and activities for students. Mondays are Pub Karaoke nights. Tuesdays are Open Microphone nights. Every Wednesday they bring bands in to perform in the middle of campus during lunchtime. Thursdays are movie nights in our campus theater.
The biggest events ASI organizes are “Orangefest” in the fall and the “Spring Concert” during the second semester in the year. These are held in the soccer stadium and over the years we have hosted Kanye West, A-trak, Three 6 Mafia, WAVVES, Waka Flocka, Lupe Fiasco and LMFAO. These kinds of events add to the variety of experiences students who come to CSUF can enjoy. Each year these events get better and better creating more excitement among the student body.
Through my involvement on campus I have met students from all over the world studying under different disciplines and all those different interactions have led me here to Seoul, South Korea! Being surrounded by so many exchange students year after year I have had a strong desire to study abroad myself.
Our international studies office is amazing and provides the resources for any student that wants to make studying abroad possible. I believe studying abroad is an essential opportunity that every student should take to help him or her develop as a citizen of the world. California State University has given me the chance to come out here and study as a guest of Ewha University, for this I am grateful, humbled, and excited for what is to come!
*Karl Sunglao (Kinesiology, 3) studies at Ewha as an exchange student.