An Unforgettable Experience at the University of North Carolina

The Circulating International Program (CIP) is an exchange program between 3 institutions around the world: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA (UNC), Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore and the Royal School of Library and Information Science, Denmark. Each year, one of these institutions takes charge of conducting this program. In 2005, it was held at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill USA. Four of us from the Diploma in Information Management were involved in the program. We joined other students from UNC and the Royal School of Library Science for 3 months and we this gave us a unique opportunity to experience the education system, lifestyle and culture in the United States.

The CIP programme was greatly enriching and challenged us intellectually on many fronts. The modules that we took helped us in developing strong skills for success in the library profession as well as in the business industry. It broadened our knowledge in the information and library science field and greatly enhanced our knowledge of Information Management. It also taught us to be independent and self-reliant. The experience led us to view the world from a much wider perspective and we appreciate the greater exposure it gave us on the work of an Information Professional. The learning environment was supportive and we appreciated the intelligent and stimulating professors who taught us.

Our learning, however, went beyond the classroom. We have brought back with us wonderful memories and cherished experiences of studying at the university. The Americans are friendly by nature and strike a conversation with just anyone on the street! It was enlightening for us to be welcomed by their warm smiles and friendly greetings every morning. The professors were extremely helpful towards us and some of them even invited us to their homes! In fact, one of our professors had us over to enjoy traditional American foods such as turkey, mashed potatoes, pecan pies and many other delicious delicacies for Thanksgiving dinner at her home.

One of our more unforgettable experiences was the Halloween party in South Virginia. We saw lots of people dressed in scary costumes and we too joined in the festivities of Halloween by carving pumpkins to make Jack O lanterns. Later we took a hayride out in the woods in the middle of the night!

We also did other things such as shopping, fishing and hanging out with our international friends. We learnt much, had lots of fun and we all felt the money we had spent had truly been worth it !

We hope that in 2006 when this programme is hosted at Temasek Polytechnic, lots of students will participate in it as it has taught us many valuable lessons not only in the area of information science but also about life as well.

- by Agnes Chok, Denise Lim, Nurhidayah Bt Zulkiflee, Kel Lim