UAC in SLC

Daily life of a Utah Asia Campus student studying in Salt Lake City

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Hello, UAC people. It’s been a long time since I uploaded the last post. I’ve been busy haha. BUT I am done with my finals and Utah is getting warmer. So I went out to the Capitol Hill. You can go to the Capitol Hill by taking Trax! You can drop off at City Creek station and walk up for 10-15 minutes and ta-dah!! You get the view just like one in the pictures. I wish you all the best and enjoy the sun :)

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Hello people, today I am going to introduce a very good restaurant in City Creek! It is a Japanese restaurant and it’s called Benihana. They have sushi station on the first floor and the grilled foods are served only on the second floor. I haven’t tried the sushi there but the grills were so gooooood. One tip to give you is to go during lunchtime because it is kind of expensive when you go there for dinner. The address is 165 S W Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 and it is not that hard to find. Hope you have a great foods at Banihana :)

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I took this picture few days ago and it is still snowing. It is finally snowing!! Its a view from Peterson Heritage Center and the buildings are Benchmark and Shoreline.

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Hi yall!! It’s great to write my very first informative post. But before I dive into my post, how is everything going? I heard that Korea is having the worst winter of all time. Luckily, Utah is having the 4th warmest winter. But I love snow, so having a warm winter is not good news for me, because I was waiting to see heavy snow in Utah even before I came here.

Anyways, today I want to tell you about the bedding supplies that you can apply for when you are registering for the housing.  So when you are done with choosing your roommates and applying for which dorm to live in, there is a part where you can choose your meal plan, and all the other stuff. Under that section, it asks you whether you want the bed supplies or not. I really recommend that you sign up for them because they are in very good condition and they are new!! It is about $80 for bed sheets, pillow, blanket, and a few towels. If you do want to choose your own styles of bedding, go for it. But if you are lazy and want to have bedding taken care of before you arrive, please get this is a great option. I got the grey, black, and red combination and I am loving it so far (the picture is my bed). The colors are randomly picked for you meaning you can’t really choose which colors to get but they give out fairly pretty ones.

I hope you are having no troubles with applying the housing for next summer and next academic year!

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YJ is here in SLC

Hello, I am your new blogger YJ. I just moved here in Salt Lake City on 03, Jan, 2018. I am a transitioned student like JD was. I will be posting new and exciting information that you might be curious about.

To give you brief information about myself, I am a senior student majoring in Communication. Although I lived in Vancouver most of my life, I am new in the States and I really don't know what it is like to live in the States like most of you do. So I hope my posts will help you when you are preparing transferring to the SLC campus.

I love snowboarding so when I heard that there is lots of snow in Utah in winter and they have great mountains to snowboard, I got excited. But this winter is not that cold compared to the last winter. But it might be cold again next winter so don’t forget to bring warm clothes!

I hope my postings help you moving to the Salt Lake City in the future!

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Breakfast during Winter Break

Hi all,

Sadly, this will be my last posting! A new member will take over and upload more creatable contents! (no, I’m not fired! :P)

Took this picture this morning of my simple(?) breakfast. Because I live in one of the apartments on campus, I can stay during the Winter break and cook. (Other dorms must be emptied)

The residence halls (Chapel Glen, Gateway, Sage Point, and Officer’s Circle) closes during the break, but apartments (Benchmark, Shoreline, Downtown Commons) and Honors Community, and Lassonde Studio remains open. (https://housing.utah.edu/apply-reserve/break-housing-stayover/)

Since I can cook, this was the second meal that I’ve ever cooked in the house. Cooked dinner last night and turned out pretty well which I am very proud of and made myself some breakfast to eat. 

The closest supermarkets can be reached by taking Trax for about 5~10 minutes to Trolley Station. There are stores such as Traders Joe, Smiths, and Walgreens, that you can shop for goods and groceries (except Walgreens does not have any food besides snacks).

In my honest opinion, I do not think having a car is necessary, unless he/she likes to go out a lot. If shopped items are too heavy, one can take Uber or Lyft. (There are ways of possible discounts and promotions). I took the Lyft last night with my friend and only paid a $1 each :P But of course, it’s only a personal opinion.

Now, I gotta go search for things I could do during this Winter break (Dec.18 ~ Jan. 5th). Adios! Thanks a lot! I hope these contents were useful!

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Snow!

We are not getting as much snow as we expected this Winter. Many tell me that they will get the snow within a month though!

Utah is really famous for “champagne” snow, which is a very good quality of snow. It’s especially enjoyable if you are an active winter sport person! Utah has great ski/snowboard resorts you can visit!

I took these pictures because it was very interesting. We did not get snow and yet, the branches froze and made it seem it snowed the night before. It was quite beautiful to see the grey U of U. 

However, it can get extremely foggy at night due to the temperature differences. I’m assuming that, because we’re up on the mountains (sort of), the temperatures and the air gets captured more easily.

This was taken in front of my dorm and it was REALLY REALLY foggy. Please be safe if you drive!

The Deads are gonna come out! :P

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University of Utah Hospital

This is a short video of what one of the rooms at ENT (Ears, Nose, and Throat) looks like. I had to visit the office because I had an incident. (I’m okay now! :))

Visiting the hospital is very easy! If you live in the dorms, just walk towards and past the medical schools and there it is. You can walk into the necessary clinic you’re visiting, but setting up an appointment is required. They sometimes let you walk in without an appointment if there is an available time for a doctor to see you. 

If it’s an emergency or you need to visit the doctor right away, visit the Emergency Room or call 911. (It’s NOT 119, unlike Korea)

The doctors and nurses are very caring and nice. Ask them as many questions as possible so that you won’t need to make a second visit and get charged again. Many things are taken care of by the Student Health Insurance, but some payments must be from out of pocket. It really depends on what and why you go. The insurance does not cover ALL but can depending on the situation. 

You can also visit the Student Health Center

for minor injuries, cold, flu, or check up. It’s located near the South Campus station by Trax and is very easy to get to as well. 

Hope you are healthy that you wouldn’t need to visit these places but when needed, please go see the doctors! 

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Oct. 30 Night

A night before Halloween, when everyone was excited and ready to have fun the next day, a tragic event occurred near the student housing dorms. 

9:03PM, just as I had walked into my room from grocery shopping, I got a message from my friend.

“Are you at PHC studying?”

“No, just came back”

“Good, there’s been a shooting”

“what?!”

Sends me a screenshot of the campus alert

“?!”

“So scary”

Until then, I did not know I could receive a campus alert to my phone. I quickly downloaded the application on my phone (U Heads Up for iOS and Android) and started to search what was going on online. Soon after, a mix of sirens drew closer to the dorm. Until then not many students knew what was going on. A lot of the students were on social media (here’s the SLC Police Department Twitter feed, the U of U’s Twitter feed, and the feed for SLC Scanner) to see if anyone posts anything about it. That’s how I followed up on the news too. 

I started to receive emails from school about the shooting that happened near the dorms. However, the emails were slightly slower than what was updated on the Twitter feeds. The Salt Lake City Police department was also updating their audio feed to send out information about what was happening. 

A lot of students started to text or call each other to check where each others were and told to stay indoors. The campus was on a lockdown and no one was able to enter any buildings on the school land. All of the students’ card-keys were deactivated for their safety and security. This, we knew from listening to the live news online. 

Many of us, including myself, were confused and didn’t know what to do. We contacted our friends and stayed tuned on the news and kept up on the feeds of the social media. 

I was shocked to experience such happening but was not too terrified because I felt safe. There were hundreds of police and other forces tracking the suspect and buildings were locked. The adults and building securities were making sure that everyone was safe and didn’t allow anyone to leave the building. Many students were locked-in at the gym or the cafeteria due to the safety procedures. 

The school was cancelled the next day and the suspect was caught near the mountains little away from the main campus areas. Emails were sent out about the news along with notification to the students for counseling if anyone needed. Resident Advisors (RAs) went around each floor to make sure everyone was okay and notified us of counseling and other resources available if needed.

How to Receive Campus Alerts

1. Log in to CIS

2. Campus Alert Setting

3. Input your phone number

4. Save

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Marriott Library

The library is a great place to study and rest (yes, rest).

A lot of Utah students study very hard. I was surprised to see so many students studying on the FIRST day of school. 

Of course, the library is a great place to find resources regarding your research, classes, and information. There is a public city library nearby as well you can go to. (about 10 minutes by Trax).

It’s a beautiful building and it’s open until around 2AM usually. 

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Campus Store (Books, goods, etc)

Hi!

Today’s story is about the Campus Store!

On the first floor of the Campus Store, there is a place where you can purchase variety of school (U) related items such as t-shirts, hats, lanyards, stickers, cups, etc. 

It’s got Starbucks as well as the Apple Store.

You can get academic related Apple products with some discounts! (This is a huge opportunity for students because Apple usually does not go on sale)

There are other computers you can purchase, and variety of tech-related items can be purchased here.

On the second floor, there is the school bookstore. Text books are NOT CHEAP. Just a few books could costs you $$$. 

However, there are couple of ways you can get your required text books cheaply. Here are some tips:

1. Once your class registration is complete and you’re sure of your schedule, look at the syllabus and see the required texts. (Email your professors if they haven’t uploaded them or ask them which books are mandatory). See the required texts and go on Amazon.com. DO NOT purchase them until you have compared the prices at the school Book Store (Campus Store). (You have about a week to finalize your classes)

2. The book store also gives you multiple options:

- Buy new

- Buy used

- Rent new

- Rent used

I personally recommend renting used, unless you will be writing or highlighting in them (as long as you keep them clean you’ll be okay. And the books are in pretty good condition).

However, not all the books have all four options, so be sure to ask for help at the book store.

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Tuition Payment

Hello!

This time, I will be posting about how to pay your tuition and where to go.

First, the bottom two pictures are of the Student Services Building.

This is the building you want to come to if you have any questions regarding your tuition bills, paying the bills, class registration, and scholarships. You can physically go in and pay your tuition, but you will need an American bank account in order to do so.

**Importantly, make sure that your credit limit is high enough to pay for your tuition. Otherwise, you will have to go to the bank and “temporarily” increase the amount because they wouldn’t normally allow you to spend as much as your tuition costs (luckily, Wells Fargo doesn’t charge for this).

- Paying directly through an American bank account, with your name on it, is the easiest way to pay for your tuition. You can pay online through your CIS. You will need your routing and account number. ($3 online transaction fee from the school)

- If you have an American bank account, you can also physically go to the bank and get a Cashier’s Check. (This will cost around $10).

(If you are getting your money from someone like a parent or guardian through wire-transfer, it will cost you $15 at Wells Fargo)

Another way to pay for your tuition is through Flywire. The pictures show you how to pay for it. This way, your parent/guardian does not need to send you money through wire-transfer. They can directly pay your tuition from wherever they are. It’s got directions on the pictures and it’s fairly easy to follow. They have several language options as well. (You can get this card at the Student Services Building (SSB))

(And yes, that’s a Cupbop (컵밥) food truck in front of the SSB!! )

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Crimson View (Student Union Center)

Crimson View is one of the places you can go to transfer your meals if you are on a meal plan. 

Crimson View has great meal choices. They have a buffet every day, with each days serving different kinds of food (prices differ as well). They also have a menu you can order from instead of the buffet, with more healthy and delicious choices. (Of course non-healthy food as well, but this relies on you :P) 

It’s located on the 4th floor of the Student Union Building, and it’s got a GREAT view. I highly recommend you coming here to enjoy your meal, just for the view!

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Meal Plans (and transfers)

Hi,

Meal plan topics today!

First, I am a food lover. I love food and I love food. Oh gosh, and as much as I love food, I gain weight according to what I eat. @.@ 

I love trying different kinds of foods from different places, and I soon (usually) like what I eat. And I like to consume all categories of the food ladder: Meat, vegetables, carbs, etc. And the school cafeteria (Peterson Heritage Center (PHC)) provides food that well balanced. (You choose what to eat. I like to have all my vitamins, protein, etc) 

I have the Block 15 Meal plan. I get 15 meals per week and it resets on Friday mornings. Yes, it’s expensive. (around $2700 for the semester). However, as I mentioned, I get all my veggies and meat. Plus it’s cheaper to eat here than to go eat out. Unless you are REALLY on top of your things and cook every time and eat healthy, in which case the meal plan might not be for you. 

But, there are several options you can get and choose accordingly.

https://housing.utah.edu/dining/ 

This is the website that provides dining info. 

And you can “transfer” your meal at different places such as Crimson View at the Student Union. It uses your meal + flex dollars. So you don’t  HAVE to eat only at the PHC.

I don’t crave for Korean food (I’m Korean) even though Korean is usually my favorite food, very much as much as others do...I think. So 15 meals per week works for me. Again, this is very personal flavor, so choose what suits you! But, I still recommend you getting it, especially if you’re living on campus. 

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Making a bank account

One of the priorities I had after arriving in the US was to get a bank account. Since the University of Utah (U) has Wells Fargo bank services available (ATMs on campus and a branch nearby) I decided to make an account with that bank. 

For international students, you need:

- Passport

- Student ID (I was able to use my IGC ID, because I haven’t received my ID Utah ID yet)

The process is really simple and one branch in the downtown area is open on Saturdays as well (most of the banks close during weekends).

You will need to make a first deposit of $25 dollars or more on the spot when creating your account.  The nearby branches that opens on Saturdays are (the ones I went to): Wells Fargo First Security 79 S Main ST, SLC, UT, 84111 &  235 S 1300 E, SLC, UT, 84102 (closest to the school)

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About Myself :)

Hello!

Well, first, welcome to this blog! This blog’s purpose is to provide you with information about University of Utah located in Salt Lake City and to show you what it’s like to live here from the view of a student (me).

I am a transitioned student from University of Utah Asia Campus (UAC). It’s a bit unique for me because I was accepted as a transfer student from Maryland and did not spend the first two or three years at UAC. (You are welcome to ask me about the other side of United States  :) ) Thus, I already knew a bit about US college life and experiences. 

Also, I am a Canadian-Korean. Meaning, my experiences and thoughts may differ from you especially if you have spent most of your life in a different country other than USA. I hope to provide the information that you need and to give you the glimpse of my college experiences here at the U. 

Hmmmm...well...I like coffee. (The reason I have a picture up there :P). I like snowboarding, which I am SOOOOO excited to go soon because I heard Utah has the BEST SNOW ON EARTH. I like to play computer games, bike around campus, exercise, and play basketball....um...yeah...so that’s a brief introduction and information about myself.

I hope to experience a lot here at the U and I hope I can show you how fun it is to be here :) 

Thanks and good luck! 

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Scholarships For International Students to apply

Top Scholarships For International Students

Here a variety of scholarships available to apply

http://usascholarships.com/category/international-students/#scholarships

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