Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA (Najoua S.)

Hey Folks! 

Today's post will be the start of our discovery about student life abroad!

Indeed, this week we have a fellow student from Al Akhawayn University, as well as one of the authors of this blog, sharing with us today her life experience during her exchange semester (Fall 2014) to a University in USA.

Let's discover together what she shared with us!

Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

My name is Najoua Sarrikhi, I’m a business administration student at Al Akhawayn University. I chose the bilateral exchange program offered by AUI to go study abroad for one semester (Fall 2014).

My 4 months exchange were spent in Baylor University, the largest Baptist University in the world.

Classes in Baylor: 

Baylor has one of the best business schools of the USA. 

"Hankamer Business School" is very well known for its strictly selected professors.

Students can choose from 24 major areas of study. 

I personally took different classes such as: Introduction to finance, Entrepreneurship, Advertising and promotion, and Introduction to music and piano.

I honestly didn’t regret taking any of these classes. I had so much fun learning and collaborating with my teammates.

My finance class was a little bit challenging but I learned a lot at the end of the semester.

Piano and music were so fun that I learned about how music started and how to play some basic piano pieces.

Food in Baylor:  

East Village Dining Commons

Memorial Dining Hall

Student Union Building Food Court

Penland Crossroads

Brooks Great Hall

These are the names of the restaurants in Baylor where you can have your meals.

When you pay your fees at AUI, you have 11 meals per week to use at Baylor. 

You basically swipe your card at the entrance of each restaurant and get all you want (food, drinks, cookies, ice cream...). 

However, once the 11 meals are done, you can either use your credit card or cash to pay an amount of 10 dollars.

My highly recommended restaurant is Penland where you can have the best tacos ever.

Besides these restaurants, there is also the SUB (Student Union Building) which has some fast-food restaurants such as Chick-Fil-A, Sushic, Mooyah Burgers, Panda Express, Freshii, and Einstein Bros.

Student life: 

Right after our orientation week, a clubs fair took place on campus. 

At this time I felt much confusion about not knowing which clubs to join. There are clubs related to almost every subject. Dancing, swimming, classes such as finance, entrepreneurship, and international organizations were all present to convince us to join them and be part of their teams.

Moroccan Night 

Game day: 

It’s a Baylor tradition where everyone screams, “Sic ‘em, Bears!” which is the sign to promote and encourage our team to do well.

I was lucky that semester to attend all the games in the new McLane Stadium with all the motivation students had. 

Baylor team is on top 5 of the USA college teams.

 McLane Stadium

NASA trip: 

One of the best trips the university organizes for its international students was a visit to the NASA center, which is in Houston, around 5 hours driving from Waco. A very pretty place where you can buy some souvenirs from, and enjoy the delicious food they have there.

Dr Pepper: 

The very well known drink of Dr Pepper is actually based in Waco, which is very unique soft drink. It tastes like Coke but it’s noticeably different. The museum of Dr Pepper is based also in Waco and its one of the attractions of that city.

Religious classes & gatherings: 

I was invited by friends to attend some gatherings that discussed mainly Christian religion and I was very glad to share some Islamic thoughts from time to time. I had the chance to learn so much about that inspiring religion of peace and forgiveness.

Thank you Najoua for your input!! :)

Hope everyone learned some interesting facts about Baylor University, as well as the things you can do or go to to enjoy fully your student life abroad.

Stay tuned for the next exchange life experience...!