Canan Çakırlar has just returned from a semester of study at Purdue University in West La Fayette, Indiana. She shares some of her reflections on her stay in the following note.
If you think you're tough enough for a real challenge, if you feel like you are ready for some quality time and ultimate fun, the Purdue exchange program is highly recommended.
You might have difficulties choosing from a zillion courses that range from "aero-acrobatics" to "radiocarbon dating," or you may have a hard time making up your mind whether to party with Puerto Rican Ph.D. students or Swedish agricultural exchange students on a Friday night. Weekends you spend caving with your friends in some of the coolest caves in North America, which are located in southern Indiana. On Saturday there's football and fraternity parties. There are short trips to "The City," Chicago; there's access to any kind of information from Ethiopian cuisine to tape recordings of the most recent EU assembly. All these things you might miss upon your return. The freezing weather you might not miss. All I have to say is - go for it!
