Barbora spent six months in Blackburg, Virginia, USA. Between nature and the big city, she lived on the campus of Virginia Tech with 30,000 students I am Barbora Zezulova and I spent a semester at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University - better known as Virginia Tech - in the USA. With around 30,000 students, Virginia Tech is one of the largest universities in Virginia. The university has a very good reputation, mainly because it offers a prestigious engineering education. The laboratories are all state-of-the-art. As part of my Master's project, I had the opportunity to immerse myself in biomechanics. During my stay, I built a "Smart Biopsy Tool" together with my colleague, which I then calibrated and tested. This Smart Biopsy Tool is a diagnostic tool equipped with an anti-seeding technology that can denature the cancer cells in the needle track after the biopsy.[caption id="attachment_1559" align="aligncenter" width="342"] The labs are state-of-the-art[/caption]The university is located in Blacksburg, a small town surrounded by beautiful nature. Some call Blacksburg "Student Village", as it is mainly students who roam the streets, partying and walking from bar to bar. You can hear party music coming from almost every student house, the town is alive! It's completely different at Christmas, Thanksgiving or during the summer vacations: Blacksburg is almost deserted. I really liked the small size of the town and I especially enjoyed the surrounding nature. Virginia has a vast wooded landscape with many hiking trails. There is also a 3,500 km long-distance hiking trail near Blacksburg - the famous Appalachian Trail. There are also a few ski resorts two hours away from Blacksburg. In summer, you can go canoeing on many rivers or drive four hours to the ocean and enjoy Virginia Beach, and the university encourages its students to lead an active sports life. There is a wide range of sports courses and many good sports facilities. The walls are adorned with posters and placards with slogans to encourage students to be active, eat healthy and be confident.[caption id="attachment_1560" align="aligncenter" width="507"] Gorgeous nature with many hiking trails around Blacksburg[/caption]The university campus is beautiful. All the houses are built in the old style and the many trees, flowers and green areas add a pleasant touch to the sandstone buildings. In the middle of the campus is a large park called Drillfield. In the past, students enlisted in the army were "drilled" on this sports field. In the morning, you can see a few students practicing yoga there. During the lunch break, many students come here to enjoy their lunch on the grass or simply take a short break in a hammock. In the evening, this large area is transformed into a playground for soccer and frisbee. There are places for beach volleyball and BBQs all over campus.[caption id="attachment_1557" align="aligncenter" width="385"] Virginia Tech's campus is full of old sandstone buildings and lined with trees and greenery[/caption]If you ever get tired of small town life, you can drive to the bigger cities like Roanoke and Charlotte and even reach the capital Washington DC within four hours. I had the opportunity to visit places like Washington DC, Roanoke, Virginia Beach, Pittsburgh and Chicago in addition to the surrounding small towns during my stay in the US. Despite the fact that the semester was quite demanding, I really enjoyed my time at Virginia Tech and can highly recommend a semester abroad in Virginia.[caption id="attachment_1558" align="aligncenter" width="308"] Great six months full of new experiences[/caption]