Ciao everyone!
We (the three Canadian students) are pretty lucky that our program head from BCIT is here in Ferrara, Italy to see how our exchange is going! We are the first students from BCIT to be sent to the University of Ferrara for the semester long exchange in Architectural Science so we are the guinea pigs of the program and he is here to make sure we are doing alright!
Having your program head come really makes you think about your exchange! We set up a series of meetings to discuss different things about being on exchange. One meeting was to discuss what we have learned here, how we feel about it, how it relates to home and whether or not the classes were the right choice for us. The other meeting was to see exactly what others have learned at home for the last semester to give us a better idea of where our classmates will be when we get back.
The first meeting we had was what really made us think about our education here. It was so hard to describe our entire experience in just a few short words, and we ended up just talking, talking, talking about every detail of attending university here. Our schools are just so different that it seems impossible to even compare them fairly. BCIT’s program is a bachelor’s degree in Architectural Science, the science part referring to our stronger background in technology, mechanical systems and structure. In the University of Ferrara, they have a stronger idea of concepts, architectural and art history, like many other Architectural schools in Europe. The beginning of our meeting started off with comparing and contrasting the schools with our opinions of the strengths and weaknesses and by the end of it I realized how much I have learned here!
One great thing about attending a University of Architecture, comparing to BCIT is the frequency of famous architects giving lectures here at the school, which is something we don’t get back home at BCIT and how much those architects have to offer. One thing about BCIT we can appreciate is the understanding of a buildings structural or mechanical system and exactly how a building is built and what is possible.
It was so great to have our program head come and see us, and it meant to much to be able to express our experience in person to him. It was also great to feel a connection to BCIT again, since it has been a few months! It is making me excited to go home this September and start my final design project of my degree, but at the same time it has made me appreciate my education here immensely! I have to go home to finish my education, but it would be kind of nice to stay here a little longer… in the sun… :)