Yizhou Liu’s Unforgettable Student Exchange Experience

This past half-year exchange in the Global Study Program at UC Davis has been unforgettable and truly satisfying. I adapted smoothly to life here and did well in my studies too. 

Exploring New Subjects Without the Pressure 

Compared to studying at my home university in China, the biggest difference here is how natural and stress-free learning feels. Since only the credits transfer after the exchange, not the grades, I didn’t have to worry about how difficult a course was, how high the A-rate was, how long the waiting list was or whether doing poorly would hurt my GPA. As long as I didn’t totally mess up the courses I needed credit for, it was fine. With a mindset as simple as “I’m interested in this course,” “I can’t take it at my home university,” “I think it’ll be useful for me,” or “Whatever I learn is mine, and it’s okay if I don’t fully get it,” I took courses outside my major—like anatomy purely out of personal interest, a coffee course that’s unique to UC Davis, a hands-on biomedical manufacturing class that I loved but don’t have access to back home, and core courses like biomechanics, medical imaging, and signals and systems that I felt weak in and wouldn’t dare take at my home university for fear of hurting my GPA. I even took hobby classes like hip-hop dance and horseback riding in my free time. 

Thanks to the all-English instruction at Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, I didn’t feel much difference in class. In fact, the pronunciation here (at least from what I’ve experienced) is more standard, so I didn’t have to struggle to understand. But the biggest difference I felt was how alive the classes are here. Back home, most students are really introverted—classes are so quiet—it’s just the professor talking the whole time. The classroom atmosphere feels dead and stiff. 

But here, in most classes I’ve taken, there’s always someone responding when the professor asks something. Most of the professors I had were also great at teaching—they even got someone like me, who never speaks up in class back home, to occasionally say a few words voluntarily. 

Living Abroad and Learning Through Everyday Moments 

As for life outside of class—even though most exchange students chose places like UC Berkeley or UCLA, and I was the only one who picked UC Davis—I think it was definitely the right choice in terms of lifestyle. Davis isn’t your typical American city. It’s very small and peaceful. The whole town basically exists because of UC Davis, so it’s very diverse, inclusive and relatively safe with few homeless people. 

Living abroad for half a year is a totally different experience than just traveling. Only by living here can you truly feel the local culture and way of life. You’ll walk into different grocery stores, shop alongside locals, and get emotionally wrecked by U.S. prices (When I first arrived: “$20 for fast food? 150 RMB? Seriously? No thanks, I’ll cook myself.” Now: “Ugh, don’t want to cook… what? $30 for takeout with tax and tip? Eh, that’s fine once in a while”). You’ll small talk with cashiers, bank clerks and Uber drivers (I’ve basically mastered the art of being small talked, since I’d never start a conversation myself—just managing a “hi” at the checkout counter is my limit). You’ll walk into fast food places alone, nervously approach the counter pretending to read the menu even though you already know what you want—rehearsing your order in your head—and still end up messing it up when you speak. 

I’ve always been good at observing and picking up on things, so I adapted quickly to the United States-jet lag was the only thing that got me for a bit, and even that passed in just three or four days. On my first afternoon here, I went grocery shopping alone. The second day, I opened a U.S. bank account. On the third day, I navigated to downtown by myself. And by the fifth day, I even took the train, bus, and metro all alone to Oakland. 

Studying abroad really broadened my horizons. Even though I didn’t really make any foreign friends (just a few foreign classmates I got grouped with when I couldn’t find Chinese teammates), and all the people I got to know were Chinese, I could still clearly feel how much the environment shapes people just from chatting with them. They were all studying undergrad in the U.S., some even went to high school here, so they’ve lived here for at least three to four years. Their perspectives are noticeably different from what I’ve been exposed to. You’d also hear crazy stories from their social circles—things you’d never come across in China. But I also realized that, because of cultural and language differences, it’s genuinely hard to connect deeply with foreigners. Making real foreign friends is tough. 

This Chapter is Ending, But the Impact Will Last 

Time really flies. It feels like I just landed in San Francisco, and now I’m leaving the day after tomorrow? Even though this exchange wasn’t cheap, it was 100% worth it. It feels like I entered a short-term side quest—now that it’s complete, I’m about to return to the main storyline. I can’t say for sure whether this side quest was better or worse than the main one, but I’m sure it’ll help me on my main journey in the future.