A Big City or A Small Town?
Many Indonesians who planned to study in the USA asked me this question: Which one is better: living in a big city or living in a small town in the USA.
I answered their question by asking them various questions related to their life styles, their favorite mode of transportation, the type of environment that they like to stay in, whether or not they would like to have a part-time job while studying in the USA, and other questions which relate to the characteristics of the two types of residential areas in the USA.
When I was about to study in the USA back in the mid eighties, I had to have an interview with one of the professors from the University of Kentucky.
There was a cooperation between Sriwijaya University in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia and University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY, USA in facilitating the faculty members and librarians of Sriwijaya University who wanted to pursue their graduate education in the USA.
The sponsor for the scholarship was Asian Development Bank (ADB).
In the interview I was persuaded by the professor to change my own choice of the city where I would pursue my graduate education on the basis of a reason which I thought was not reasonable.
I know the point was that the professor wanted as many students as possible to select the University of Kentucky at Lexington, KY as their place of study.
I was reluctant to gather together with too many fellows from the same city or country of origin.
In my opinion, when you study abroad, you have to pursue different experiences, different circle of friends, and different ways of living, and of course, a different lingua franca.
How could I achieve these if I studied among fellows from the same city and country of origin.
This was the reason I chose the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.
C.
I knew that there were many Indonesians studying and working in this city, but they did not know me and did not live near my university.
The professor tried to scare me by saying that in some areas of Washington, D.
C.
it was not safe to walk at night.
He said that he knew it because he himself had ever stayed in Washington, D.
C.
in the past.
Then I told him that it occurred in every other city of the world that there were areas which were not safe to walk in at night.
It was not a problem for me.
He wanted to know my reason for choosing a university in Washington, D.
C.
as a place of study.
I told him that in Washington, D.
C.
there were many models of good libraries and library-related institutions for me to study from.
So I would obtain knowledge of library and information science not only from the classroom but also directly from real libraries and library-related institutions and the people who managed them.
My argument seemed to work well, and I was allowed to go to the CUA in Washington, D.
C.
What are the advantages of studying and living in a big city? First of all is that a big city offers more opportunities to its residents.
The opportunities are not limited to resources for developing knowledge only, but also resources for working and living.
Many foreign students have to rely on a very limited amount of monthly stipend.
In order to survive and maintain the comfort of living they usually hold a part-time job outside study hours.
Some of them work on campus, while some others work off-campus in an institution that needs their expertise.
Other students do a menial job at a restaurant or a cafe.
There are more vacancies for such work in a big city than in a small town.
In terms of resources for knowledge development, a big city offers more facilities for that purpose than a small town.
Some people wrongly assume that living in a small town is cheaper than living in a big city.
It is not completely true.
It depends on the town where you live and your life style.
With regard to availability of public transportation, in a small town public buses are scarce.
You need to wait for hours for a bus to come your way, but in a big city, various modes of transportation are available.
You just need to know and remember the routes which are usually available at every bus terminal or bus station.
Once you know the routes you can easily go around the city on a bus or subway train if it is available.
In a small town, public transportation facilities are scarce, so you need to own your own vehicle to go around.
If you are a practicing moslem, of course, you do not want to lose your Friday praying every Friday during your stay in the USA.
If you live in a small town with limited number of moslems or no moslems at all, you will not feel very comfortable having to leave your Friday praying every Friday.
If you live in a big city, there is a greater possibility that you will find a mosque and moslem community in the city.
So, Friday praying will not be a problem, because you can find a mosque easily.
In Washington, D.
C.
there is an Islamic center with a big and beautiful mosque for moslems at 2551 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20008.
In Los Angeles, there are many mosques for moslems to pray.
So, if you think a small town is superior choice for a place to live and study, you had better think again of all aspects that may change your choice.
I answered their question by asking them various questions related to their life styles, their favorite mode of transportation, the type of environment that they like to stay in, whether or not they would like to have a part-time job while studying in the USA, and other questions which relate to the characteristics of the two types of residential areas in the USA.
When I was about to study in the USA back in the mid eighties, I had to have an interview with one of the professors from the University of Kentucky.
There was a cooperation between Sriwijaya University in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia and University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY, USA in facilitating the faculty members and librarians of Sriwijaya University who wanted to pursue their graduate education in the USA.
The sponsor for the scholarship was Asian Development Bank (ADB).
In the interview I was persuaded by the professor to change my own choice of the city where I would pursue my graduate education on the basis of a reason which I thought was not reasonable.
I know the point was that the professor wanted as many students as possible to select the University of Kentucky at Lexington, KY as their place of study.
I was reluctant to gather together with too many fellows from the same city or country of origin.
In my opinion, when you study abroad, you have to pursue different experiences, different circle of friends, and different ways of living, and of course, a different lingua franca.
How could I achieve these if I studied among fellows from the same city and country of origin.
This was the reason I chose the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.
C.
I knew that there were many Indonesians studying and working in this city, but they did not know me and did not live near my university.
The professor tried to scare me by saying that in some areas of Washington, D.
C.
it was not safe to walk at night.
He said that he knew it because he himself had ever stayed in Washington, D.
C.
in the past.
Then I told him that it occurred in every other city of the world that there were areas which were not safe to walk in at night.
It was not a problem for me.
He wanted to know my reason for choosing a university in Washington, D.
C.
as a place of study.
I told him that in Washington, D.
C.
there were many models of good libraries and library-related institutions for me to study from.
So I would obtain knowledge of library and information science not only from the classroom but also directly from real libraries and library-related institutions and the people who managed them.
My argument seemed to work well, and I was allowed to go to the CUA in Washington, D.
C.
What are the advantages of studying and living in a big city? First of all is that a big city offers more opportunities to its residents.
The opportunities are not limited to resources for developing knowledge only, but also resources for working and living.
Many foreign students have to rely on a very limited amount of monthly stipend.
In order to survive and maintain the comfort of living they usually hold a part-time job outside study hours.
Some of them work on campus, while some others work off-campus in an institution that needs their expertise.
Other students do a menial job at a restaurant or a cafe.
There are more vacancies for such work in a big city than in a small town.
In terms of resources for knowledge development, a big city offers more facilities for that purpose than a small town.
Some people wrongly assume that living in a small town is cheaper than living in a big city.
It is not completely true.
It depends on the town where you live and your life style.
With regard to availability of public transportation, in a small town public buses are scarce.
You need to wait for hours for a bus to come your way, but in a big city, various modes of transportation are available.
You just need to know and remember the routes which are usually available at every bus terminal or bus station.
Once you know the routes you can easily go around the city on a bus or subway train if it is available.
In a small town, public transportation facilities are scarce, so you need to own your own vehicle to go around.
If you are a practicing moslem, of course, you do not want to lose your Friday praying every Friday during your stay in the USA.
If you live in a small town with limited number of moslems or no moslems at all, you will not feel very comfortable having to leave your Friday praying every Friday.
If you live in a big city, there is a greater possibility that you will find a mosque and moslem community in the city.
So, Friday praying will not be a problem, because you can find a mosque easily.
In Washington, D.
C.
there is an Islamic center with a big and beautiful mosque for moslems at 2551 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20008.
In Los Angeles, there are many mosques for moslems to pray.
So, if you think a small town is superior choice for a place to live and study, you had better think again of all aspects that may change your choice.