An English Education

Well first module came and went, I can't believe how fast time is flying here. The last four weeks I studied Introduction to Marketing with a great group of hard working students. There were 7 of us in the class so we all got to really know each other, and that in itself made the class a lot of fun. The instructor (I have talked about this in past posts but I will mention it again - bear with me ;) )  was really great because he is not an academic or a scholar he is simply a man that has put in a lot of work in the industry and has come back to the university to give back to the world. 

Every class we are taught new materials and at the end of the class we all present on what he taught last class. It goes like this everyday up until the final presentation. Every time we do the presentations we receive feedback from our peers and the next day we re-present what was talk to us last lecture as well as the incorporated criticisms from the previous session. These forces us all to apply what we learn directly after we have learned it, and by presenting this we receive feedback on if we have fully learned it correctly. It is not easy to slide by or even pretend to work for single a day, if you do that you would just look like a fool in front of everyone and clearly demonstrate that you do not in fact pay attention during the lecture.

It was one of my favorite classes and I will admit I am kind of sad to see it over and the class dispersed. But the second module has already begun and I have the same professor and two of the students from the previous session with me. It is the same exact structure as the previous class except that we do not create a marketing plan from scratch as we did with the first module, rather we remake a failing strategy plan for an already existing business. This should be interesting, and I am excited to see how the next four weeks go!

Also, on a note about the way things are graded here. During the final week I approached my professor and asked him how things were graded differently in comparison to the States. He compared it a lot to checks and balances.

In England when a final assignment is submitted the professor reviews it and it is sent to a second person at a different university to review as well. But this review is of the professor's grading to make sure it's fair with the students past work and marks. Then it's sent to another person then that makes sure that its grading is consistent with the schools standards. Basically everyone is kept in check. 

I realize that in the United States from my experience and from others I have spoken to, it is not always a question of whether or not the class is hard, but it whether or not the professor is. Students in the US pick classes based on who is teaching it, and I believe if we could incorporate the grading system from England into the United States then maybe it would be a lot fairer and students could be ensured that they are receiving the marks that they deserve.

School in the UK!

So most of my posts so far haven't been about school, and that's because its just so much its hard to put down all of it into one post. But it here goes!

I am taking Introduction to Marketing for my first session here at the University of Sussex, in Brighton England. My class has about seven people in it, comprised of students from UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, Hamburg School of Business in Germany, Technologico De Monterrey in Mexico, and Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. Our class is diverse in where everyone is from so its interesting seeing how everyone's views and understandings differ.

For our class work we were all placed into groups and expected to make a marketing plan by the end of the module. During each class the professor goes over a new aspect of the marketing campaign, overnight or over the period of a day, our groups needed to change our marketing plan to reflect the new material that we had covered. Each day of class it begins with the professor going over new material, and it ends with each of us presenting our modified marketing proposal.

This way of learning has been extremely beneficial to my understanding of marketing and branding in the corporate world. Moreover it has taught me how to work with my classmates in an efficient way to come up with a proposal in a short amount of time.

I have spent a lot of my time here (when I am not exploring) in the computer room with my classmates going over marketing strategies, pricing, and product image. I have really been able to enjoy this type of studying.. it has kept me engaged in the class because I can directly apply what I learn, and then see immediately how well I have really learned it by presenting it.

It has been such a great opportunity to do my classes here with a diverse group of students. Not only do I learn about the material but I learn about my classmates countries' as well. Like something small.. in Germany when they write two thousand they use periods instead of commas (2.000) - which is a HUGE difference when you are writing a budget out and you are only getting 20 dollars instead of 20,000 dollars!  This is something that I would have only really noticed by working with someone from Germany.. or you know going to Germany too ;)

Finals are next week and its our final presentation! I am actually really excited about it instead of nervous, I am not sure if that's normal but I am happy with that!

Thanks for following my blog thus far!
I am headed off to London this weekend, then Paris the weekend after that, not to mention starting my next module as well, so keep checking back!

Differences

This has been a really interesting week for me. I took a lot of time to myself the beginning of this week and I explored a lot of the local shops here in Brighton. We have this lovely little town (okay so its not actually all that little) that is right on the coast. I spent a lot of time on my own at first, I was kind of homesick for awhile, but I've started to make good friendships here and it makes being away from home a bit easier. I became friends with a girl named Allie and she introduced me to her friend Jerry. Turns out she goes to UC Merced as well! Completely random that in a large room full of people I happened to talk to her, and out of everyone there what are the odds that shes a fellow bobcat?

Allie and I ended up playing pool.. but its not really pool here. I have listed out a few things below that are different here.. billiards being one of them.




Pool.. is called Snooker.. (Snookah if you say it with the English accent, the guy teaching me said I couldn't say it right). Its played with red and yellow balls instead of stripes and solids. Its similar to billiards in that the first one you hit is your ball that you have to try to make in the rest of the game... but its different because if I accidentally hit their ball or if you bounce off of theirs to hit yours then they get two extra shots. There is a whole bunch of other rules to it, but its hard to tell what is the local version and what is the real version of Snooker. But it was definitely a lot of fun, and Allie and I won!

 Bacon.. Bacon is different here too. The whole breakfast really. Its so much meat! - Okay I guess that's not really that different. The bacon is actually big slices of ham that are crispy like bacon, its really really delicious. And if you ask for a coffee they automatically give you an Americano (espresso and water) Their portions for drinks here are much smaller but really concentrated and their large is usually smaller than our medium drinks!

And then there are the beaches... The beautiful pebbly beaches of the UK. The way that people regard the beaches here is far different than at home. When in California I think of laying out on the sand, going swimming and playing in the waves. Here its a completely different atmosphere. People go hang out in large groups on the beach and sit and have barbecues.  There really aren't any waves at all either. And people don't really take off their shoes because its rocks. But its full of music and groups of people out until late just sitting and talking.

Okay, I know there are places in the US like this too.. but for me it was completely different, I grew up hanging out in SoCal beaches and it wasn't anything I had experienced before!

So thats it for my list of differences until I add more later. :)

There is this really beautiful and fun pier really close too. It is full of arcades and junk food and amusement park rides. So of course when tempted... 

                                                         
                                                       A waffle on a stick is a must!

It has definitely been a great week, and I made a couple of new friends. 

We went out to a restaurant the other night and on our way in the host grabbed me and started salsa dancing with me right in the entry way to the patio. He ended up hanging out at our table with us later and told us he was actually a part owner of the business. The people here are so friendly and they have a really witty sense of humor. The people I have met and befriended have made this trip such a great experience.

Made it!

I finally landed in the UK at 10:30am (UTC) yesterday and took a bus from the airport to arrive at the school, by the time I got everything settled and my keys it was pretty late into the day but I still took the opportunity to hike to the top of a grassy hill overlooking the entire campus:

The next day I took a trip down into Sussex with a couple of the girls I live with in the flat. We took the wrong bus (we thought we were going to the pier) and we ended up taking a very long drive through some gorgeous neighborhoods and we arrived at a grocery store and went shopping, which was entirely different too. We had to put a coin in the shopping cart in order to use it..

And then I got to order England's famous Fish and Chips! They actually deep fry a whole fish, not just strips like you see in America. It was so delicious.

I got to Skype Katie today too! She has no idea I took this so neither of us we really ready for the photo..

So far this trip has been nothing short of amazing, I can't wait for the rest of it!

Vegas!

Checking out the mini Eiffel Tower before I get to see the real one! I had an 8 hour lay over in Las Vegas until the next flight to London-Gatwick so I took the opportunity to explore the strip. Next stop - the UK!