University of Oregon
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Landscape Architecture
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: East Asian Heterosexual Male
Summary
Right now, I’m only in a fraternity.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: East Asian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public school in Jakarta, Indonesia with a graduating class of about 240 students. There was not a strong culture of going to college in the United States. Only about 10% of students did.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Pre-Business, if we meet the requirements we get automatic acceptance into the business school. I’ll probably apply for it in the Spring of 2020.
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: Right now, I’m only in a fraternity.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
For the Pre-Business courses, we have a couple of weekly essays. We also have to take a few math-based classes that have problem sets online, Excel homework, and sometimes written homework. The major graded assignments differ for each subject, so sometimes we have two to three essays that make up a big portion of our grade. But, mostly, we have midterms and finals that make up the final grade.
Is there anything you feel the pre-business program does especially well or poorly?
I think the lower-division classes that we take, like the introduction classes, give us a brief perspective of what the Business major is like. We also take all of our [general education] courses first, so we can really figure out if we want to do Business or not. I have a couple of friends who figured out that they don’t want to major in Business. I think that’s the good side of the Pre-Business track, you get to figure things out first before you get committed to the Business major.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
So far, it’s individualistic for me because in most of my classes I don’t know most of my classmates. I probably know one or two people in a 500-person lecture class. With the people I know, it’s pretty collaborative and they’re really willing to help. People just care about their achievements and not others because it’s a really big class and we don’t know each other. [About 140 classes, or about 9% of all undergraduate classes, have over 100 students.]
How was transitioning to those big lecture hall classes?
It wasn’t really hard for me, but I think it depends on the individual. As long as you focus, listen to what the professor is saying, spend time out of class to do your homework and review the material, and be proactive to go to office hours, it isn’t hard. It wasn’t hard for me, but I think it depends on the person.
How was transitioning from your school in Indonesia to the University of Oregon academically? Were there any resources in place that helped you adapt?
The language wasn’t a problem for me because I learned both in Indonesian and English at home, so I could understand the lectures clearly. The only difficulty was writing essays in college because in high school we had English classes but we weren’t required to write papers in English often. At first, the wording that I used was difficult because I used repetitive words. The essays were hard at first, but I made it through.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I come from a family where my parents run their own company, so I was born and raised in a business environment and got interested in the business world. I’m happy with my choice.
Reasons to Attend
1) We have really good academic programs.
2) We have really good sports teams. You don’t just study here, you get a fun experience with the school spirit.
3) People here in Oregon are really friendly and nice, so you don’t have to be afraid to meet people here because they’re really welcoming.
Reasons Not to Attend
I can’t think of any.
Around Campus
On and Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Barnhart Hall in a single
Sophomore: I live in an off-campus apartment with two roommates
How was transitioning from Jakarta, Indonesia to Eugene, OR in terms of location?
That was pretty different because Jakarta is the capital city, so it is really busy and there are so many more things to do. There are lots of malls, restaurants on the street, and the nightlife and everything goes until 2:00 AM. Eugene is really quiet, there aren’t many places to go to, and I didn’t know a lot of people. After the first term ended, I started to make a lot of friends and got really close to a group of people. After you get to know a group of people you’re comfortable with, it feels like home and it isn’t hard anymore.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
It’s really safe. I’ve never experienced anything bad. It’s a really safe place here in Eugene.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I mostly just hang out with friends. We’ll go get dinner and hang out for a while afterward in an apartment. I occasionally will go to a party, but not too often. If I were to go to one, it would be at an apartment that one of my close group of friends lives in. I’d say it’s pretty common for events to be hosted in an off-campus apartment.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or getting dinner that you like for a night out?
It would probably be going to the movies if there’s anything new or going bowling. I like going bowling.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m currently happy because I have a group of friends who are really cool and just hang out with them. What I would change is the restaurants’ hours because most of them close at 9:00 PM and that’s really early.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
We had International Student Orientation the first week of school and I met one person there who had other friends and I got to know the rest of the group. The other group of friends I made through my fraternity. I met them during rush week and then after I got in I met more people in my fraternity because we do a lot of stuff together.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Oregon?
I would give it a 9 out of 10 because everyone is really friendly and they accept you for who you are. People are nice and if you’re nice they want to hang out with you.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think everyone would be willing to hang out with everyone. It doesn’t matter your background, it just matters what the kind of person you are and the characteristics you have. People are really friendly.
To what extent do international students and domestic students mix socially?
I think some of us mix well, but some of us don’t really mix because a lot of international students tend to only want to hang out with people from their country. Not a lot of international students join Greek life. They just feel more comfortable with people from their own country because they can speak their language and it’s easier for them. For me, in my opinion, I mix really well with both international students and Americans. I have a group of friends who are all international students from different countries and also a group of friends who are from America. As long as you put an effort to mix with people, you should be fine. People want to hang out with you if you want to hang out with them.
How do you like the size of Oregon in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 19,000] undergraduate students?
There’s a lot of people here. In my experience, there are a lot of people who are different than me and a lot of interesting people. Before I found my closest groups of friends, I was bouncing around from one group to another. With the number of people we have here, you get to know a lot of people, make a lot of new friends, and meet a lot of interesting people.
How would you describe the international community on campus? How strong is it?
In my opinion, it’s pretty strong, especially with the International Student Association. Every Friday they have ISA Coffee Hour and anyone’s welcome to join, not just international students. You can go there, meet people from different countries, grab some food and talk and make new friends. We also have organizations for each country, like the Japanese Student Organization, to keep a strong bond with the people in their country. I think it’s pretty strong here.
As an international student, were there any aspects of the University of Oregon or American university in general that surprised you when you arrived on campus?
What surprised me is how open people are and how quick people can be friends here. Back home, it wasn’t always quick at first, but here once you click you click and you have that bond.
Careers
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I did and it was really nice and helpful because I was applying to an internship last summer and I didn’t know how to make a resume. I went to the career center and they explained to me what a resume is and we brainstormed made it together. I ended up with a really good resume and also got the internship.
Have you learned any computer programs or languages that will be helpful to you professionally?
I’m taking a business class right now called Managing Business Data and its focus is using Excel and also Tableau. It is really helpful because before I had really limited knowledge of using Excel, but after this term I’ve learned so many new functions in Excel. In my internship last summer, they asked me about Excel functions and formulas and I didn’t know them, but now I am being taught all the functions and formulas that I was asked about by my supervisor. That class has been really helpful in developing my Excel skills.