ADVENTURES AT FRANKLIN

  FUS continues its promise of giving students an Academic Travel experience with the Spring 2021 session, where students are still able to learn and explore in different parts of Switzerland! I was able to summarize a handful of the travels through the responses from a few of my peers. Here are their stories in their own words. Interviewee #1: Arpi Khachatryan is planning on getting a double major in History and CLCS and minoring in Film Studies and Applied Mathematics.  What is your Academic Travel Course, and where did you go? CLCS230T: Science fiction and film. (She went to St. Moritz, Switzerland!) Describe your course in 1 sentence. Exploration of sci-fi literature, films, and theory through the lenses of cultural studies. What was your favorite moment/activity over travel? All of it! Cause we were making films ourselves. What was the best food you ate? I'm not sure about the name but it was some sort of a salad with cool sauce. (very fair) Interviewee #2: Spencer Landry plan

Here at FUS, there’s a LOT of different dorm possibilities. Single, double, triple with or without separate rooms, apartments for six rooms… all of it, really. Most FUS students get to experience a few of those arrangements during their time here, so this article may be helpful to them or incoming students. Without these tips, I had to learn from hands-on experience! I had my own room back home so it was definitely different. This article touches on a few tips which I’ve learned from my current experience as someone in Panera… which if you don’t know has a shared bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living space. My roommates and I have made this work, but not without communicating and understanding the social cues we give off. Decide what space is who’s So.. there's a book space. Who has which shelves? In the bathroom, where is each person able to store their stuff? Be prepared to sacrifice space in areas you don’t really care about but others do, it’s only courteous. In regards to kit

*For prospective students that don’t fully understand the US university system: A major is a specific subject a student specializes in during their time at university while a minor is typically pursued based on interests that don’t fall exactly under the major, but still are valuable to one’s education and personal interests. Some abbreviations used: SJS = Social Justice and Sustainability HIS = History IR = International relations As a first-year student at FUS, knowing what college path is the best fit for me is definitely not my expertise. I’m currently between three majors (SJS/HIS/IR), two of which I’d possibly want to double major in. However, there’s a bit of planning that has to be done before any of that can be decided. Perhaps I’d want to minor in one instead! So yes, it’s quite complicated and I really need to put some more thought into it and in the meantime, get other’s advice. Fortunately, also getting to hear others’ personal interests has helped me get a better underst

With lockdown in Lugano, sometimes it’s hard for me to not self isolate for a few days. Likewise, I’m sure it’s the same for any admitted or prospecting students, parents, and faculty.  But life continues on despite the pandemic and especially now days can get a bit muddled together. We can get used to only seeing the faces in our proximity.  Perhaps it’s been weeks since you’ve talked to some friends from high school (the ones you want to keep in contact with, of course), or you’ve lost touch with old friends who you’ve only ever been happy around but they live ever so far away. I challenge you to reach out to people this Sunday. (psst. the day this is published, today!) Make an effort to reach out to 1-5 friends who you haven’t spoken to for a week at least and ask how their life has been. Rekindling friendships (even for a moment!) can really boost your self-esteem and make someone’s day just a bit brighter. I’m not saying reach out to anyone who has hurt you or you miss but sho

It’s time for a new installation in this series! As my first time publishing for ‘Swiss Cities in Depth,’ a portion of this article will be dedicated to my experience at Bellinzona. The personal touch alongside an overview and some sites to visit seem exactly up my alley. I mean, you could google the entire history of Bellinzona in your free time, right? So, let's get straight to why this picturesque city is worth the visit! Brief Overview of Bellinzona Bellinzona is the capital of the Swiss canton of Ticino and was situated in a strategic location. The city surrounds the Swiss Alps and is on the Alpine foothill, meanwhile, the ‘Tre Castelli’ surrounds the city! The Castles of Bellinzona, which are also the symbol of Ticino’s capital, consist of three castles: Castelgrande, Montebello, and Sasso Corbaro. These giant fortifications act as walls surrounding the city, and since 2000 have been acknowledged as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Culture and Castles: Things to do Bellinzona wa