Benjamin Pentland – Film & Media – Level 3
California State University, Chico, USA
Despite knowing it was possible to do an exchange semester at QMU and being interested in it when the opportunity first became available, I wasn’t too sure about it. After some encouragement from friends, I decided to put my name forward, I was encouraged to be open minded about the locations that I could go to by Laura, which lead me to Chico State University.
Pre-Arrival
The process of getting a Visa for the United States is quite confusing as there is not really a simple “how to guide”. Once I filled out my details, I then needed to attend an in-person interview which must be in London or Belfast at the US embassy (I went to London). Despite being a lot of hassle to get there, the actual interview for me went very smoothly and was only asked a few questions and the Visa was sent to me shortly after.
Arriving in Chico
After taking multiple flights and getting through the US borders, (print out your SEVIS, they will want to see it) I arrived in Sacramento and took a bus to Chico.
My first week would most likely be different to most exchange students going to Chico State as due to me finishing off an assessment for my production class at QMU, I did not arrive in Chico until after the induction week, which I don’t recommend as I was pretty much thrown into the deep end. I was lucky I got a day off before classes started as there were strikes on my first day but after that I had to attend classes straight away so my first week was quite heavy. Luckily it wasn’t too bad as I did also meet a lot of my friends during this first week.
Transport
The transport is quite limited when compared to travel in the UK however it is not impossible to use forms of public transport in California. You are not going to find buses that will take you everywhere in Chico and you will have to plan around them a bit more than in Edinburgh. However, a great perk about the busses in Chico is that they are free to students.
Chico is in the north of California and while still close to Sacramento and San Franciso these places can both a be a little bit hard to get to by public transport as train and bus times can be limited. A lot of places in California are easier to get to if you can drive or if you know someone who drives.
LA
During my week off at Chico I visited LA for a week. Trying to save some money for the journey I went to LA via Amtrak which resulted in me taking a bus then a train and then another bus, it was a long journey but worthwhile.
I had a lot of fun in LA despite traveling there myself. As I was by myself, I made sure to plan for things to do in the evening, so I went to gigs and the New Beverly cinema, which was owned by Quintin Tarantino. During the day I took the time to explore. LA is very big, and I don’t feel I managed to explore everything I could have when I went however that has given me more incentive to go back.
Accommodation
I reluctantly chose to stay at University Village as I was not able to find somewhere else to stay. There are a few options when looking for places to stay and there are quite a lot of student accommodations around Chico. There is a roommate finder through Chico’s website where you can find people who are wanting to sublet to other students or take over someone’s lease, however I never found luck here.
University village is decent and does the job, it’s not necessarily ideal but was okay to stay in it for 4 months. The space was quite small, and I had to share a room with a roommate.
One of the benefits of to University Village is that you get 64 meals included in the food canteen which was really useful if you needed to get a quick meal on campus.
University village is just outside Chico but still close enough. For me it was probably the perfect balance of being close enough but not so close that I felt like I lived at the university. The walk to campus was roughly 20-25 minutes but there were also busses which I occasionally used.
Education
The way my classes translated from Edinburgh to Chico meant that I had to take five classes instead of my usual three at QMU. These classes are meant to be reflect the amount of work between QMU and Chico. To me it definitely felt like I was taking five classes so I would highly recommend considering, as best as you can, how much you will have to do for your classes before choosing them.
The class system at Chico was very different there was more of am emphasis on assessed homework throughout the year as opposed to final assessments. Although there still are final assessments and mid-terms. Overall, the weekly assessed work from my experience was normally quite simplistic and seems to just check that you are paying attention.
I took a class on screenwriting, Field Video Production, Media Arts (Coens), Media and Learning and World Cinema.
I would recommend classes taught by Joshua Moss, if he is still teaching there, I really enjoyed his screenwriting module. He has a lot of insight into the Hollywood screenwriting industry that he is willing to share and genuinely seems passionate and interested in his teaching and what his students are creating.
Media arts was interesting and allowed us to a deep dive into a filmmaker’s career, in our case the Coen Brothers, while also expanding our knowledge of film history and genre. It was a good exploration into looking at film through a critical lens.
Field video production is okay, while it did give a little more insight into lighting, the lessons was not too different from what I had previously done at QMU and if you can take studio video production instead, I hear that, it may be better and more of an expansion on what has previously been established. However it is still interesting to could an insight into what we have done before from a different perspective.
World Cinema is a good but challenging class, held back a bit by how it was held online. The class helped expose me to cinema from different cultures and made me watch some films I’m not sure I would have watched otherwise. I did enjoy this class however it was occasionally quite heavy some week/
Media and Learning, I took to add some diversity to my timetable but ultimately was not really for me. It was concerned with using media to create tools that were useful in workspaces.
Attractions
One of the main places that you can visit in Chico is Bidwill Park. Which I visited a few times with friends and was a great place to visit on a sunny day. There is also a night market which is on every Thursday, which has a great atmosphere and is often busy.
Food
There are a lot of independent food places to try out. I especially had a lot more Mexican food when I was here. There are also a lot of fast-food places that I had never been to that my friends from America really wanted me to try out.
University Life
I spent a lot of time participating in the Digital Filmmaker Guild which was the Chico state’s filmmaking club. One of my goals while in Chico was to take part in more films and get experience in different areas which was encouraged here. I met many people through this passionate for filmmaking and acting and was a positive environment for learning and experimenting. The films that we made throughout the year we showcased in a film festival ran by the club which was a really rewarding experience.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Chico and would recommend it to creative students as I found a community there that was passionate and encouraged creating. I feel like I was able to get new perspectives and I developed my confidence as a person and a filmmaker.
I would like to thank Santander for providing me funding me to make this opportunity possible for me. I really enjoyed my time at Chico and am grateful that I was able to get this experience.
