RMS: Not your typical university

Attending Reims Management School (RMS) has been a good experience so far, but it is much different than other universities. First, we only take one class at a time. I love this. It is so nice to only have to concentrate on one subject! Our class schedule is very inconsistent, but a day's course could be from 9:30am-12:30pm, 2pm-5pm, or both of those times if you do not attend every day during the week. So far, we had our French class for the first four weeks, then we received a one week vacation. Now we have a management course, and a four-day weekend following the final presentation. We have 3 more courses coming up and two more week-long vacations. It is a very nice set-up for an international student who wants to travel!

In terms of difficulty of these courses, it is nothing to be worried about. The courses are interesting and I have been learning a lot, but there are very few homework assignments and tests. It is nothing compared to what we do in the states. I think the most valuable part of being here is not necessarily the formal education, but what you learn from every other source by simply just living here and talking to people. Also, in order to pass the course, the French system requires that you receive a 10 out of 20, which is almost impossible not to receive.

For one single subject over a four-week period, you could have anywhere from 3-6 professors teaching the course. Some are guest speakers, and others are people you will have more than once. In a way, it is nice to receive another person's point of view, but it is also inconvenient at times.

The school itself is very small. There are two campuses within walking distance of each other, but you never have to walk between them in the same day since you only have one long class which is sometimes separated by a 90-minute lunch. There is a cafeteria with cheap lunch (3.90 Euros), and a little cafe where you can get snacks or a light meal. Since the school is so small, you are always around your fellow exchange students, and you usually share the same course with them. It makes it very easy to make close friendships.

Although very few people in the city speak anything other than French, people at the university will usually speak English since there is such a large international population. They also offer French classes once a week if you would like to continue learning throughout the semester.

In terms of extra-curricular activities, there are not very many compared to the University of Hawaii. There are certain clubs, but the things they sponsor are usually parties (which are fun). They do not have a good gym on campus, and the sports teams were formed before we arrived. They do have the occasional cooking class or wine/champagne tasting event though. You just have to sign up for all the different Facebook groups, and then you will get notifications of different events going on.

Overall, the professors and other students have been very friendly at RMS, and I have enjoyed my not-so-stressful classes thus far!