“These friends are who I will remember
most and have been the greatest part of
studying abroad.”
Lewis Wilkinson
Queensland University of Technology,
Australia
Computer Science
All round I'd say it had just gotten to the point
where I needed to push myself to do something
different before I got downtrodden in the same old
routine of life again. I was mainly hoping to achieve
a new sense of independence and a bag full of
amazing memories. The campus was right on Brisbane river, I could see the botanical gardens from
the library and walk to the Southbank beach in
between lectures. Living in another country was so
much easier than I expected. Once you are there
you just get stuck in and quickly forget how far
away you are from "home".
The best thing about experiencing truly living in
another country is the sense of freedom you feel to
be able to explore the world afterwards. It's hard to
think of a stand-out moment amongst music festivals and mid-semester trips to Melbourne, but for
me when the whole international student mob took
a road trip to Byron Bay volleyball on the beach
quickly descended to sunset sing-a-longs. I think the
biggest thing I achieved was the ability to selfreflect and really decide what I want from life after
seeing how much it has to offer. I've managed to
develop another set of skills after experiencing a
different style of learning that can only stand me in
a better position to approach all future education.
I'd also now be willing to pick a career anywhere in
the world now as hopefully a more interesting and
employable candidate.
I would wholeheartedly recommend a study abroad
placement to everyone. Simply put you get to go
and live and explore another country with likeminded people while making your degree look that
much more impressive, why wouldn't you?
Abigail Shaw
Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
Languages, Spanish
My year abroad in Spain was compulsory as my
degree in Spanish Studies is a four year course with
the third year being the Year Abroad. I was hoping
to achieve a higher level in my written, spoken,
listening and conversational Spanish language. I was
also hoping to live like a local and really immerse
myself within the Spanish lifestyle and the city of
Seville where I studied.
My host university, the Universidad de Sevilla, was an
impressive university. At the beginning it was a little
tricky registering, choosing modules and so on. One
of the most noticeable aspects was how laid back the
whole system is, true to its stereotype - very
'manana'. The difference in prices, everything was so
much cheaper! You would spend less money going
out for dinner than you would eating in. The best
thing about living in another country was living a
completely different life for a year, becoming part of