the traveling husky

I'm Sora, a fourth year journalism major and psychology minor. I'm currently in Wales, studying at Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media, & Cultural Studies.

[northeastern-sorahwang]

what do u think northeastern can improve on

Hi! I’m sorry for how late this reply is!! If you want a slew of excuses, I’ve been in the midst of studying for finals, traveling, and then dealing with returning back from Paris and Edinburgh to a completely crashed and useless hard drive…. in the week that I have an exam…. so, things got a bit hectic and I’m sorry to keep you waiting!

I think Northeastern can improve on helping students staying connected to Boston when they’re away. There are a lot of programs in place to help co-ops connect with each other when outside of Boston (for example, hosted events for students on co-op in different cities), but it’s always hard to stay connected to campus. I think it’s a struggle that everyone is aware of and constantly trying to work on, but it’s a huge, difficult task. I don’t know if there is really any given solution for this, especially because it most definitely is a two-way street between the school and the student that is away. 

Hope that answered your question!

[northeastern-sorahwang]

Hey! I'm coming in as a transfer student in the fall as a sophomore! Do you know what it's like for transfers to adjust in northeastern? Also, I'm still skeptical about my major because I'm coming in as an art major (design specifically), but i'm not sure if I want to major in or have it as a minor. Would it be hard to try to figure this out as a transfer student?

Hello! Congratulations and I hope you find Northeastern to be as amazing of a second home as I have! :) From the transfer students that I have met, they seem to transition fairly well. Since we have opened a new residence hall since I’ve been on campus, this could have changed, but I believe transfer students living on campus are usually in the same building, so you can easily meet other students who are going through the exact same thing you are. You will also be able to meet other students in classes and student organizations, of course. We have an orientation and everything to help you get adjusted to Northeastern before you start as well, so you will have plenty of chances to meet people, ask OLs (orientation leaders) questions, and get to know the city and campus!

We have advising available and you can set up appointments with your academic advisor through myNEU, our online portal, to sit down and talk about class choices, what you want to do, choosing a major, etc. I believe the process would be similar as any other student trying to find his or her footing! You’ll have flexibility with electives and the NU core to take classes outside of your major, while simultaneously taking classes in your major to figure out what is the best fit.

Hope this helped! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[northeastern-sorahwang]

THANK YOU!! :)

Of course! Let me know if you have any other questions. :)

[northeastern-sorahwang]

Hi, I was just wondering (you may not know the answer) but when/ if I apply to Northeastern (I'm definitely planning on it) and I get accepted and I wanna be a nursing major do I have to do something different to get into the nursing program (bsn) do you know...? I'm sorry! And if I get into NU it doesn't guarantee me in the program right? I'm sorry again!! Thank You!!

Hey! I’m going to be completely honest with you and say I’m not 100% sure on this. While I do know some people in nursing, we met after our first year of college and we never went back to talk about applying. The “apply” link on our BSN Nursing Program’s website took me straight to the general admissions information, so I’m inclined to say there isn’t anything extra to do, but Bouve will use the same material you send in when you apply for the school as it does for the program specifically. I do know that when you apply on the Common App, there is a section where you can mark down which major you are interested in. If you put down nursing there and are accepted through that, you will be entering in the program. If not, switching into it may be another process.

Again, this is what I think is the case–I would double check on this just to be sure, but from my digging and prior knowledge, this is what seems to be the case! Sorry I couldn’t give you a more definitive answer, but best of luck and I hope to see you around campus one day!

[northeastern-sorahwang]

I should be writing one of my final papers right now, so obviously, instead, I’m going on random throwbacks to our crazy spring break trip! Here’s a video from our time in Budapest. This was definitely one of my top spots of our entire trip -- I’m gonna say top 10 (get it... because we went to 10 places, not counting day trips... okay, I’m done).

This is also good timing because we FINALLY booked our last actual holiday trip today after months and months of talking about it!!! I’ll be ringing in my 22nd birthday in Turkey! :)

[northeastern-sorahwang]

Whoaaa hey it's another appblr/studyblr with a vlog! Hello, nice to see that there are more of us around. :))

Nice to e-meet you! Sorry this took so long to reply to, haha.

[northeastern-sorahwang]

what is student life like? After attending admitted students day i felt like everyone was very smart and on top of their academics. what are popular activities students do that do not involve studying or doing co-ops? I am well aware that Northeastern has solid academics, but i was wondering if you could elaborate on the social life such as clubs and activities on campus.

The thing about Northeastern is that there are so many clubs that you can join! Whatever you’re interested in, we probably already have a student organization for it. We have over 340 student organizations and that number is just constantly growing. For me personally, I have consistently been involved with Student Government, Fashion & Retail Society, Husky Ambassadors, and Northeastern University Figure Skating Club. (I feel like I’m missing a name in that list…) I’ve also briefly worked with Her Campus Northeastern, Huntington News, and Woof Magazine. If there isn’t an organization out of the 340+ that fits your interests, you can start your own, which is why I say the number is always growing!

With all these organizations, there is always something going on on campus, whether it’s an event in Blackman Auditorium with an organization bringing a celebrity to campus, or the dance troupes holding their annual show. If you keep your eyes open walking around campus, it’s very, very hard to miss all the signs and posters for the hundreds of events that go on constantly.

Students are just as passionate about their extracurriculars as they are about their academics and co-ops. Northeastern has an extremely vibrant student life with a lot of variety ranging from fraternity & sorority life to student publications to sports clubs to religious organizations to LGBT societies to everything and beyond – you name it. 

[northeastern-sorahwang]

If you’ve been following this blog since I started studying abroad, you know that I’ve been vlogging some things here and there. I made a couple of videos for my friends and myself while I was on co-op in California and studying abroad seemed like a pretty good reason to continue. I also know that basically no one cares about these videos except for Summer and me, so instead of watching all ten spring break vlogs, here’s a quick highlights video of all the places we went over our spring break – Barcelona, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Nice, Monte Carlo, Brussels, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Amsterdam, London!

[northeastern-sorahwang]

What do you want to do after college? What are your career aspirations?

Oh boy. I started college saying I was going to end up as a magazine editor somewhere in the world. Since, I’ve fallen in love with TV (more accurately, I’ve fallen in love with working at The Ellen Show) and my next co-op is in media relations. I think over my co-ops, I’ve started to lean away from magazines, although I still completely enjoy working in print and would be happy there as well. Before I go back and make up my mind, I wanted to pursue my interest in media relations for my third co-op, so I know that I’ve tried a little bit of everything and am making my job decisions based on real-life experiences rather than just speculation.

[northeastern-sorahwang]

hi! I was wondering if you explain what student life is. I know that co-ops are required in order to graduate but I was wondering how that works in terms of student life if everyone is doing their own co-op (near or far). it seems like everyone is busy doing co-ops and i was wondering how that affects social life with your close friends, roommates, and classmates.

This is definitely something I was worried about going into Northeastern because I already knew that I wanted to do co-ops outside of Boston and study abroad as much as possible. Not gonna lie to you, not being constantly surrounded by your friends makes it harder to keep in touch, but it is also completely doable. I feel like my best friends and I are much closer because of the extra effort we have to put in to keep in touch than we would be normally. It just depends on how much effort and work you’re willing to put in. While I was in California during my previous co-op, one of my best friends and I tried to FaceTime at least once a week. The occasional time that I walked home from work, I’d call someone to catch up and I’d try to make sure it was someone different each time, so I was keeping in touch with everyone rather than just one or two people.

Northeastern students love Boston, but we also love to get outside of Boston, so the campus is constantly changing and moving. It’s just a part of regular student life for us and soon, you’ll realize it’s not out of the norm for people to be spending multiple semesters away from campus.

If you’re co-oping nearby (outside of the greater Boston area, NYC), it’s easy to take weekend trips to Boston or for your friends to take weekend trips to you to visit. If you’re co-oping in Boston, your friends in classes will be there and your friends on the same co-op cycle who choose to co-op in Boston will still be there. Not having to worry about schoolwork and being able to meet up for drinks after work is a huge perk here.

For classmates, you end up on similar co-op cycles with the people you are in class with again and again, so it’s always a great reunion when you walk into class and see familiar faces that you hadn’t seen in a while. I remember coming back from my first co-op and being able to walk in and see my classmates who had also been on co-op and just immediately catching up like no time had passed.

I hope this helped and eased your worries! I know it seems really strange and daunting when you just think about it, but once you get on campus, you realize how normal it is and that it’s just part of the Northeastern experience. 

[northeastern-sorahwang]

Hi Sora! i have been accepted to Northeastern for Journalism and I've also received an offer from Cardiff for Journalism. I'm sure you can understand why I'm sending you a question! I'm having a dilemma between which school to choose and I was wondering if you could give me a bit of insight into the differences between the two. In terms of the way they teach, the student life, the cities, anything would be helpful really! Thanks! :)

Hey there! I just got back from my travels today, so I really hope this is still helpful in some way, despite my late response. First off, congratulations!! Both are phenomenal schools. To be honest with you, I’m biased towards Northeastern. (I don’t think that’s very surprising.) As much as I love Cardiff, my heart and allegiance lies with Northeastern, but this is my personal preference. Both schools have phenomenal professors and programs. I know more about Northeastern than I do about Cardiff’s program, but I can tell you from what I’ve experienced so far that it seems like Northeastern puts a much heavier emphasis on real-world experience than Cardiff does. Cardiff’s teachings, for me, have been much more theoretical and academic research-based, whereas if I were taking these classes at Northeastern, I would be writing articles and investigating stories rather than doing the background research for the more academic side of things. They’re both completely different approaches and I personally think the Northeastern approach is more more practical and useful.

Boston and Cardiff are both great cities. I feel like I haven’t actually been in Boston in quite some time though and I miss it a lot. Cardiff has been amazing as well. I’m not sure if you’re an international or US student, but I have really loved studying abroad in Cardiff because I don’t feel like a tourist. I feel like I’ve really become a part of the community. It certainly helps that it’s not a crazy big city like London and it’s not constantly swarmed with tourists. Think of it this way (I’m not sure if this will help, but…) – London is to New York as Cardiff is to Boston.

I don’t know if I can speak on Cardiff’s student life since I’ve only been here a few months and have spent more time with other study abroad students and first years who have only been here slightly longer than I have. As for Northeastern, there is a lively student life. Our campus is constantly moving and changing. There is always something to do, somewhere to be, something to see – you name it. If Greek life is something you want to be a part of, the UK does not have fraternities and sororities, so that may be something to consider. You also pay membership fees in the UK to join student organizations. That has certainly deterred me from getting as involved as I do when I’m back home at Northeastern.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I hope this has been helpful! I’ve only been in Cardiff for a few months as opposed to my almost four (omg…..) years at Northeastern, so I have a lot more opinions and knowledge about Northeastern, but I can try to answer as many questions as I can about either school.

Or, you can get the best of both worlds and go to Northeastern and study abroad for a semester at Cardiff. ;)

[northeastern-sorahwang]

I'm at the airport to start my 3 week journey through Europe! I could seriously get used to a longer spring break. ;) I'm not going to be able to get on much during my trip, but I will be back after with pictures, videos, and more reasons why Northeastern is so awesome!

[northeastern-sorahwang]

Hey Sora! I just got admitted to the NU in program and am so excited to tour Northeastern next week. I am wondering what is your experience like at the school in the sense of the type of people that attend, the difficulty of the classes, any clubs you are in etc. Thank you for reading this and I can't wait to see the university!

So I had this whole long answer typed out and then accidentally somehow left the page, so I’m sorry if this answer isn’t that great… --

Firstly, congratulations!!!!! (And apologies for the delay, I missed this in my inbox last time I was on!)

I LOVE Northeastern. I think that’s easy to tell since I wouldn’t be writing this blog if I didn’t. I honestly think the students at Northeastern are some of the most ambitious, driven, and self-motivated people I’ve ever met. You have to be in a setting with so many opportunities just laid out in front of you. It’s up to you to pick your path, so you have to stay self-motivated. Being able to make your own path and unique college experience is also something else I love about the school. I have friends all over the world right now and it’s amazing not only how easily Northeastern makes that possible, but also how much they encourage it. I think the students are just so, so, so beautifully passionate about what they love, whether it’s politics, music, medicine, fashion, communications—you name it. And if it’s not your major and you still have something you’re passionate about that you want to pursue outside of the classroom, we’ve got so many organizations that people invest so much time in. I seriously think we have such a vibrant campus with so many voices and activities going on at all times because the people are so passionate about what they love.

Difficulty of classes is a little harder to try to gauge for you without knowing specifics. For example, science is totally not my strength, so while I wouldn’t be caught anywhere near any chemistry class ever, one of my best friends would rather do hours and hours of his hardest organic chemistry homework than write a single essay. Unless you receive AP or IB credits and don’t have to take these classes, freshman year will mainly be introductory classes for your major or general NU classes if you’re undeclared. I think, overall, the difficulty is definitely there to challenge you, but you can also handle it. If you don’t mind sharing specifics, I can try to give you a better answer to this as well!

I am in Husky Ambassadors (which means if I weren’t in Wales and were in Boston, I could potentially be giving you your tour when you visit!), Fashion & Retail Society, Student Government Association, Northeastern University Figure Skating Club. I was also on SGA’s Communications and Events Committee and TRACE (Teacher Rating and Course Evaluation) Committee last time I was on campus. I feel like I’m missing a couple organizations right now, but I haven’t been in Boston in ages…

I know this was super long, but I hope it helped somewhat! Let me know if you have any more questions and I hope you enjoy your visit!! Northeastern is seriously such a beautiful school and I miss our campus so much. Don’t forget to rub the husky’s nose in front of Ell Hall for any good luck you may need! :)

[northeastern-sorahwang]

I had the chance to go to Dublin and Northern Ireland this past weekend! I don’t know how many times I’ve said it on this blog, but I’ll say it again --traveling is one of my favorite parts of studying abroad. I’m so glad and lucky that I can say I’ve studied abroad twice thanks to my opportunities at Northeastern. 

[northeastern-sorahwang]

do you go to a lot of games?

Hi anon! When I’m in Boston (which has been rare lately…), I go to as many games as I can! Embarrassingly (especially with my last post and having a friend on the dance team), I haven’t been to a basketball game before, although I’ve always meant to. I do go to as many hockey game as I can though. The Doghouse—the student section at hockey games—is truly such an energetic, amazing thing to be part of.

While I was in California last semester, I missed going to games so much that I considered planning a visit back and timing it with our hockey schedule. Unfortunately, cross-country flights are expensive… so I haven’t been to a game in ages, but yes! — TLDR: I go to as many games as I can, granted when I’m on campus.

[northeastern-sorahwang]

Cheering on our boys in March Madness all the way from Wales! I don't let studying abroad stop me from being part of the N Zone. Makes me so proud that I hear our cheers over the commentators every time I have to watch a game through a live stream. Huskies are the loudest fans you could ever ask for. ALL HAIL NORTHEASTERN!!

[northeastern-sorahwang]

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR NEW HUSKIES!!!!!!!!

It’s just now dawning on me that I found out about my Northeastern acceptance four whole years ago now... Way to make me feel old ;)

This is such an exciting time in your life, seniors. Take a moment and pat yourselves on the back. Let yourself celebrate and just soak in the feeling of accomplishment when you read that acceptance letter before you start stressing about where you want to head off to for the next four, five, six (if you choose Northeastern) years of your life.

If you have any questions, my inbox is open for you! I will try to make this process as easy and painless for you as I can.

I took the above picture after I officially committed to Northeastern. I can’t wait to welcome you to our beautiful campus, if you choose!!