Hana Lovett: Semester in Czech Republic
Spring 2024
Ostrava University… I would say the school itself was a culture shock. The campus is spread out around the city- there isn’t a campus like we have, rather, there are scattered buildings around this city that is bigger than Little Rock. The faculty of science was a 5 minute walk away from my dorm, but the faculty of medicine (where I was) was an hour away by bus + tram. There isn’t a campus life and there isn’t a cafeteria. I’m grateful for that, though, because I got close to my roommates and neighbors through cooking together and hanging out in the student kitchen. On my side of the dormitory was only international students, which made making friends really easy.
My professors were all very kind and spoke great English. One of them, on the first day, said “attendance is not mandatory as you are here to see the world, not sit in class all day. All I ask is you turn your assignments in on time”. Most of my professors shared that mindset, so it was easy to go on weekend trips to other cities and countries. Though some of my peers had different experiences with their courses.
I think there were only four weekends the whole semester that I was home in the dorm. I was always gone seeing something new because travel was inexpensive and I had an abundance of free time. Public transportation was easy to figure out and as a college student under 25 I got all kinds of discounts, like 15% off all Flix Busses and one free carry on with Ryan Air.
My biggest tip for other students wanting to travel abroad is to chat with your bank; I paid way too much in conversion fees. I got a credit card that wasn’t supposed to have a conversion fee but it wasn’t accepted in most of the countries I visited. I wish someone advised me to set up a Czech bank account or get Revolut.
If you’re considering studying abroad at OU or anywhere… DO IT!!!