Mizzou-What is in it for you

Quite often people asked me: “So what brings you to Mizzou, the middle of nowhere?” I honestly could not find a solid answer at the time I got accepted to the university. The only thing I knew, and fortunately I would find myself in love with, was the beauty of six columns, the symbol of the University, in a photograph.

However, after four years studying here, I never had a thought of regret about my choice. Mizzou is a wonderful place to study and to live. It has witnessed my growing, my failure and success, and my up and down moments during the last four years. I do not know what specifically brought me here, but I can list a numerous reasons why I am so in love with this place.

Among those reasons, having a strong Vietnamese community is the best thing. The Vietnamese Student Association at Mizzou currently has around 70 members. Having a supportive Vietnamese community here gives you the feelings of home-away-from-home. Here we celebrate almost every traditional Vietnamese holiday such as Mid-Autumn festival, Christmas, and New Year. As many other students, I am so thankful for the thoughtful guidance and great support from many Vietnamese people here.

At Mizzou, we not only help each other in life, but also do our best to introduce the beautiful and rich Vietnamese culture and history to international friends. The VSA has always actively participated in annual events such as the International Welcome party and International Night, making our community more visible on campus. There were awesome moments when I taught international friends how to pronounce some Vietnamese words, and when someone told me: “I love your group performances. They are so impressive, and the custom was so colorful.” Participating in those activities make me realized how beautiful my country is, and how much I am proud of being a Vietnamese.

In addition, Columbia is a peaceful, friendly, and safe town. It is not rare to receive smiles from strangers on the street. Columbia people are very kind and friendly. There are an exciting mix of local restaurants, coffee shops, and galleries. One more bonus point, the cost of living here is moderately low compared to the average United States’ living costs. This is an ideal town for me; however, if you love the atmosphere of big cities, then this may be a boring place.

Well, it seems like an advertising piece for Mizzou. But honestly I am totally in love with this place. The MIZ-ZOU spirit is in me, and being a part of the Mizzou family is awesome. I am going to graduate this May, and still have at least three more months to live here, but the idea of leaving Mizzou one day is so hard to accept. 

The great things about studying at Mizzou

 Hien Nguyen is a graduate student, majoring in Economics. He has been studying and living in Columbia for four years and enjoying this college town a lot. In this post, Hien will share with us his opinion about Columbia.

As a graduate student in Economics at Mizzou for four years, I would like to share my thought and experience about studying and living in Columbia Missouri:
  
Mizzou has a wonderfully big and beautiful campus. Mizzou is located in the center of the college town, which makes it easier to focus on academic matters. J Mizzou also has excellent facilities and supply resources for your studying and research.  In addition, the Midwest people are friendly, simple, good and caring. People here are generally much warmer than people in big cities like New York City. Therefore this is a good place to learn American culture from the heart. 

Unless someone has great ambitions and is determined to go big name schools such as  Stanford, Harvard, most other schools have similar standard. Don’t be misled by ranking! And honestly, going for top schools is not easy.  You may be so busy, stressed and burnt out. The best school is the school that is most suitable to you, not the school with the best ranking.

·       The living expense and tuition here are affordable. Compared to other schools in U.S, Mizzou has a reasonable tuition fee. The living expense is low. The gas price in Columbia Missouri is about lowest in the US. The car insurance is very low. The rent for a two bedroom apartments is about $600, compared to $700 for a one bedroom apartment in Connecticut.

     If you want to have fun, there are many interesting events also. Check out stufftoto.missouri.edu. A Broadway show in New York City may cost $120 but about $20 in Columbia. There are ballets, concerts and cultured things that you can enjoy just about the same in this college town JThere are great opportunities for physical activities. Mizzou’s gym is among the top in the US. Free soccer field and free running tracks. Free yoga and meditation sessions on campus. The MKT is excellent to bike and run and hike. Basically you can bike for hours on the same trail if you’d like. There are also several fishing lakes if you like this meditative hobby. 

·       If you ask the questions “What can I learn in the US to make a positive difference in the Vietnamese communities?” ,then here is the answer: Mizzou and Columbia can provide great opportunities for you to learn from. There is a vibrant civic community here from various student grassroots organizations to houses for the homeless and recovery programs for the alcoholic and drug addict. There are many opportunities to volunteer and learn from.  From cultural standpoint, Columbia Missouri embraces diversity of cultures. There are communities for different beliefs of the Jews, the Buddhist, the Muslim, the Christian, the Hindu, the Universalist, the Vietnamese the Indian and so on. Opportunities are there to challenge our assumptions and be open-minded to the vast humanity. 

·       There is a large Vietnamese community at Mizzou. So there is help from the Vietnamese community and opportunities to do good things together.

My experience has been wonderful so far and I would like to thank this place.

Hien Nguyen
MA student in Economics, May 2014