Student enjoying American experience

Posted 6 September 2012

The first Harper Adams student to spend a term at an American university has arrived and is settling into life across the water.

Kate Jackson, 24, is taking part in a student exchange with Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) in Ithaca, New York, as part of her BSc (Hons) Food and Consumer Studies course.

She arrived in America earlier this month and is living with four other exchange students from Brazil, Denmark and Austria.

Kate, from Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, said: “From the moment I arrived here it has been non-stop, the faculty and students have been so welcoming. CALS also has a great international student network and being the only UK exchange student I have met people from all across the world.

“One of the main things that shocked me about Cornell was the size of the campus, it’s like a town in its own right. It is in a beautiful setting, with gorges situated throughout, so I never mind getting a bit lost and discovering more.

“Cornell has a wide array of classes to choose from, although I’m majoring in Applied Economics and Management, which includes courses on Marketing, Consumer Behaviour and Food Industry Strategic Issues, I am given flexibility to be able to choose classes from other majors, and have even enrolled on a wine course at the Hotel School.

“The work is tough, and there is plenty of reading to keep up with, but I’m really enjoying what I’m studying which makes it much easier. I’m also trying to stay on top of my work so that I have the opportunity to travel at weekends.  Last weekend I travelled to Boston with my housemates, and we’re hoping to fit more trips in to places such as Vermont, Niagara Falls and of course New York City.

“Coming to Cornell has been one of the best decisions I’ve made, although I was really looking forward to my placement year, I felt this was too good an opportunity to miss, and I’ve not been disappointed.”

Earlier this year, Harper Adams signed five-year agreements for student exchanges with Cornell CALS and the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

CALS is uniquely situated as a publicly-funded college within a private Ivy League university. With 3,500 students and 360 academic staff, it is the second largest undergraduate college at Cornell. It is consistently ranked as one of the best colleges of agriculture and related sciences in the world.

Dairy farmer, Betsey McKenna from Albion, New York, spent her spring term at Harper Adams and was the first student to arrive as part of the exchange.