Going to school in Prague and attending Anglo-American University is completely different than my home university. Although it was unfamiliar at first, I have come to love studying abroad. The school itself is a short twenty minute walk along the river for me. Even though I can take the tram, I prefer to walk because the city is gorgeous. The first time I walked into AAU I was taken aback. During orientation they told us the building was an old palace and you can definitely tell. The staircase leading into the main building looks very regal and most of the classrooms have chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and intricate crown molding. It is the complete opposite of the old run down, two hundred seat lecture halls I am used to at UCSC.
Rather than attending three shorter classes multiple times a week, I have four classes that I go to once a week. Each class is three hours, something that took a few weeks for me to get used to. Class size is also very small. I have surprisingly loved the class size. It has helped me become more comfortable speaking up and it is so nice and helpful to be on a first name basis with the teachers. Speaking of teachers, there is a different work expectation at AAU. I feel like I get more creative freedom on projects and papers as the guidelines are less strict than back home and I have had a lot of presentations. We also get to go on field trips, something I deeply missed from my elementary school days.
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| Cherubs guard the staircase |
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| Modern meets vintage |
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| look at that detail |
Rather than attending three shorter classes multiple times a week, I have four classes that I go to once a week. Each class is three hours, something that took a few weeks for me to get used to. Class size is also very small. I have surprisingly loved the class size. It has helped me become more comfortable speaking up and it is so nice and helpful to be on a first name basis with the teachers. Speaking of teachers, there is a different work expectation at AAU. I feel like I get more creative freedom on projects and papers as the guidelines are less strict than back home and I have had a lot of presentations. We also get to go on field trips, something I deeply missed from my elementary school days.
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| Would you think this was a school? |
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| Courtyard for a queen |
The classes I am taking here are mostly art elective courses. It has been really interesting because they are classes I would not get to take at my home university. Learning about art from new perspectives and in different cultural context is so beneficial. I feel like I can go back to Santa Cruz with new global perspectives that will help with my future film classes.
Dalia B. is the Fall 2017 MOJO Blogger in Prague, Czech Republic. She is currently a Junior studying Film & Digital Media at UC Santa Cruz.