Just like a caramel macchiato has layers, milk, espresso, and caramel, my exchange experience at Penn State was rich with flavours of learning: academic, cultural, and personal.

I recently completed my international exchange at The Pennsylvania State University. State College is a small, quintessential American town, often described as “a town in the middle of nowhere.” Nestled in the heart of Pennsylvania’s forests and mountains, it’s affectionately known as Happy Valley. Thus, for one layer of learning – culture – I discovered a hidden corner of the U.S. I realised that no amount of Hollywood films, music videos, or pop culture could have prepared me for State College. It’s not the kind of place you stumble upon unless you have a reason to be there, becoming a student at Penn State, for example. In State College, everything revolves around Penn State. It’s a true college town; everywhere you look, people wear Penn State gear, and even the local supermarkets sell Penn State clothes, Penn State cakes, and also kitchen stuff with the Penn State Logo. On game days, especially for American football and volleyball, the quiet town transforms into a sea of blue and white (the university colour), buzzing with energy and pride.

Interestingly, I found many similarities between the University of Nottingham and Penn State. Both are located in the heart of the countries, surrounded by greenery and a bit removed from the hustle of major cities. Both are proud sporting universities, where athletics are not just extracurricular but part of the campus identity, blue and white logos, and a main campus called “University Park.” These parallels made Penn State strangely familiar to me.

The first layer of academic learning – Student life at University Park

During a call with my PhD supervisor, he saw me sitting outdoors and simply asked, “Are people in the U.S. treating you well?”. Only one problem in the Penn State office was that I did not find any separate meeting room for a conference call, but I have absolutely no complaints about the university and the support I received from the US departments and supervisor. The university admin system is very smooth, so everything is set up easily.

I received more encouragement and guidance from the supervisor than I ever expected. In this research, I wanted to develop a System Dynamics model to show how different parts of the transport system influence each other, and how these elements affect diverse traveller behaviours. At first, I felt pressured; the research was difficult (to be honest, that’s how I feel at the beginning of every study I’ve done). I built the first version of the model, and then after each meeting, I revised it again, and again, and again… But the supervisor was never frustrated when I could not show a good result. Instead, he patiently guided me through every detail, showing me where things could improve and helping me understand the logic behind each part.

There are three important things I learnt through this work. First, even though my supervisor encouraged me to aim high for a top journal, he always reminded me that the real goal isn’t a good publication but a meaningful research contribution and impact. The research aim isn’t to build a perfect System Dynamics model, but to use that model to solve a real problem. That’s why his encouragement wasn’t “You have good research,” but “You will make a good contribution.” That subtle shift changed how I saw my work.

Second, I learned to pay careful attention to every link I created and every symbol I used in the model. It’s easy to say A influences B, but it’s much harder to explain how and why that influence happens. I had to think beyond my own perspective, as someone who doesn’t use a car, and consider how car users might see things differently. It reminded me to approach the work with an objective mind.

And third, I learned patience. I was disappointed that I didn’t finish all the tasks I had planned before the exchange. I thought I’d complete my data analysis, but I got stuck on the model mechanism for a long time. I felt guilty. But in the final meeting, the supervisor taught me something important. People often focus on data analysis as the final product, the thing to showcase, but without a strong, convincing logical framework, the data analysis results are meaningless. That’s why we spent weeks building a solid system mechanism, so that when I present it, whether at a conference or elsewhere, no one can easily challenge its logic. Our job is to challenge ourselves, persuade ourselves, discuss with other people and build strong arguments. Once the mechanism was clear, we knew exactly what data was needed, and the analysis only took a short time. When my supervisor said, “You’ve made good progress.” And for the first time, I felt I could finally let go of the constant worry that I wasn’t good enough. That experience taught me to be more patient with myself, to learn bit by bit, step by step, rather than rushing toward results just to have something to show.

I’ve been learning about systems thinking since my first year, from my PhD supervisor’s course and during my internship with the Department for Transport. Now, I understand it. I know how to use it. Happiness comes in small things, like comparing my first model version to the recent one and seeing how much better it looks, with feedback loops in perfectly round shapes. I can see my progress, slowly learning the things I’ve always been interested in. My motivations for joining the international exchange were to learn System Dynamics in the place where it was developed, and I did.

The second layer of culture – Something very American

I was placed in an office with three other PhD researchers. They were all friendly, and we had great conversations about a wide range of topics. Through these chats, I started noticing differences between the PhD programmes in the U.S. and the UK. For example, U.S. PhD students spent much more time learning maths and quantitative methods in my first year (maybe because of the discipline of the department). International students in the U.S. had a 20-hour work week, but they’re only allowed to work within the university. They call the supervisor “advisor”. They don’t have an internal examiner, or maybe they have, but they call them by a different term. The viva and progression process is also different.

Before coming to the U.S., I didn’t drink Starbucks (as I preferred Vietnamese milk coffee), but somehow, grabbing a Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks in the Library became my morning ritual before going to the office. In the UK, I never ate bagels because I found them tougher than sandwiches. But I’ve learned that toasting bagels makes them better, and it was nice to eat bagels with Philadelphia cream cheese. I think it’s not really about taste. People often ask me how I can eat fish and chips in every British town I visit. I think it’s about opening and accepting local culture. I’ve come to realise that culture isn’t just something displayed in museums. It’s in everyday life, in the supermarket aisles, in what people eat, what they buy. And sometimes, these moments remind me of things I saw on TV and YouTube when I was a child. It’s strange and comforting at the same time. It was America that I knew.

The third layer of personal learning – In the U.S., don’t be scared!

Before I arrived in the U.S., and even during my stay there, many unexpected things happened: visa delays, accommodation issues, and travel disruptions. I still remember arriving in Philadelphia, looking out through the airport window at the blinding storm that turned the entire landscape white, and receiving an emergency alert on my phone. I asked myself, “When will these challenges stop?”. More things happened during my stay in State College, but if I could advise myself a few months ago, I’d simply say: “Just let it be. Don’t worry too much.” Visa problems? Just wait. Accommodation issues? Keep searching. Storms and delayed flights? Follow the airline’s guidance. We can’t control everything, and trying to change what’s beyond our reach only adds stress. I learned to let go, to trust the process.

The U.S. also surprised me in ways I didn’t expect. The news had made me anxious before the trip, but in reality, Washington D.C. was peaceful, New Yorkers were friendly, and State College was sunny every day. The country felt different from what I had imagined, and much warmer than I feared.

I left State College just as the leaves were turning yellow. Two months, August and September, felt short, but they were long enough to leave a lasting impression. I’m deeply grateful for this experience. This exchange wasn’t just about one chapter of my PhD thesis; it was a chapter in my life. After all, I know I’ll miss Penn State. I’ll miss the anxious days, the loneliness when every friend has different time zones, the wandering, the worries, the supermarket food…. I’ll miss the deep conversations with office mates, the tough questions in the meeting, the late evenings in the library, the stress over research progress, and the joy of seeing “very good” in an email from my supervisor. All of it reminds me of how I adapted, how I faced challenges, and how I grew.

And maybe, every time I order an iced Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks, I’ll think of Penn State, not just the place, but the person I became there, with a smile.

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