CEA CAPA Education Abroad in Sydney, Australia

My time as a student with CAPA was one of the best experiences of my life. I was able to meet friends that I will have for ever as well as become more aware of a culture that although is very similar, is also different. This program allowed me to work with a professional basketball team where I had many great experiences that would be hard to obtain in the United States. Living in a hotel with a bunch of friends is a great experience that allowed everyone to become more social and experience as much as possible while abroad.

Going on the CAPA Program is an experience you'll never forget.

Besides it's relatively cheap cost, the internship placement, and the location, there are many things about this program that make it unique. You get to stay in the Meriton Serviced Apartments- not in a dorm at a University. Think of it as staying off campus, with incentives. Each apartment has at least two balconies, 24 hour room service, a full kitchen, and two bathrooms, not to mention the spacious living area with a large flat screen TV (but you probably won't be watching too much if you spend your time the right way), and the gym and sauna access. It's conveniently located next to a small market, some shops, restaurants, the highway, a fabulous park (with great sight lines of the city), and the bus stop. It is without a doubt a great place to stay.

You get to live with other Americans on the program, so if you are fearful of living on your own, you get the camaraderie and a little dose of culture to fall back on when you need it. Some planned trips in the beginning of the program allow you to make friends with the other students very early on.

Of course, this doesn't mean you don't meet Australians or anyone from a different culture. I certainly met many people from all over the world through my travels and still communicate with them today- 6 months later. As is the case with any abroad program and experience, meeting people, and immersing yourself in the culture is completely up to you. Australians are all around- trust me when I say you meet many people. Make the most of it.

The program is there for you when you need any assistance. I can't say enough about how they helped everyone on the trip.

While abroad, I was more freely able to step out of my comfort zone, as high as 12,000 ft in the air, and as low as 60 ft in the waters below. I gained invaluable cultural awareness, experience, the knowledge to successfully live on my own, and the lasting sensation that I can do anything in the world I put my mind to. I highly recommend the program.

While I was in Sydney I completed a 140 hour internship with Bradfield Bentley Pty Ltd. I not only developed a lot in my personal life but also my professional life. I learned how to adapt to a new environment and culture and still be able to provide a practical view on the industry. My time spent in Sydney was also occupied by taking an International Business class. This was an extraordinary experience considering I was able to take what I was learning in class and apply it to my international internship.

My time abroad was the best time of my life and I wouldn't change it for anything! I only wish that everyone had the chance to experience something like that!

Studying abroad with CAPA was an incredible experience. CAPA arranged living situations, transportation and internship placements, which made the transition abroad much less stressful. They led multiple events to introduce students to Australian culture and staff members were always helpful. If I could do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat!

Due to my internship schedule, I had plenty of free time to wander around Sydney to check out galleries (Art Gallery of New South Wales), museums, beaches, delicious cafes, nightclubs/pubs, beautiful parks, hiking trails, and my favorite, Aussie wildlife. I would highly recommend checking out the Taronga Zoo and/or Featherdale Wildlife Park.

I was also lucky enough to be able to take a trip up to Cairns where I got to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef and tour the Daintree Rainforest.

However, Australia is quite expensive and it can be really difficult to do and see all of the things you want. Especially when it comes to traveling around Australia, flights are often around $300, so you do need to budget trips in advance if that is important to you.

If I could describe my experience in Sydney in 3 words, those words would be Informative, relaxing, fun, insightful, lovely, awesome…Ok I know that was definitely more than 3 words but it’s just sooo hard to put a limit to the description of my Journey. Coming to Sydney I was more focused on gaining experience in the workplace than “exploring” the city like most students did (not that I didn’t want to enjoy the city, but my internship was my main priority). I was hoping that all the knowledge I acquired from my financial related courses taken at Purdue would transpire the tasks I performed while interning and they certainly did. After completing my internship, I have no doubts in my mind that Financial Counseling and Planning is the route I want to take as a career. I am thankful for my awesome supervisor! I will most likely never forget about her due to the fact that we went skydiving together (highlight of my trip!). Some of my best memories in Sydney also include the blue mountains trip, hunter valley, and all the attractions I got to visit. I am thankful for my coworkers for allowing me to be part of their end of financial year lunch and farewell lunch they had for me. That truly showed how much they care about their interns, which I appreciated. I am also grateful for our instructors, and all the knowledge I gained from them. I often do not come across instructors as passionate as Varina and Andrew about their job. Last but not least, I would like to thank CAPA for giving me the opportunity to be part of this program, and making my experience worthwhile, and rewarding. I am pleased to have gotten to know some of the ladies from CAPA personally ( you know who you are lol) I am definitely planning on coming back to Sydney one day, during summertime of course! I will make sure that I keep in touch with all of these awesome people!

This experience taught me to get out of my comfort zone and live spontaneously! It was a blast. I became much more sociable after this trip and better at doing things on a whim. DEFINITELY stay with a host family. Mine treated me like family and allowed me to have a great time abroad - plus they made AMAZING food. :)

I don't know how to describe Australia. You have to experience it yourself. The CAPA Staff are very professional and helpful and do everything they can to make you feel at home and comfortable. I found CAPA to be encouraging and helpful. My internship placement was also wonderful, it was my favorite part of the Study Abroad because of who I worked with.

This was the best experience of my life. The internship placement was perfect and suited me well. I feel like I learned so much about another city, another culture and a lot about myself. The apartments that we were placed in were beyond perfect and were in a great location close to the airport, beaches, and the downtown part of the city where the Opera House and Harbor Bridge located. My day to day experiences looked like: waking up and off to the internship or class in North Sydney, spend all day out and come home to make dinner. I had three day weekends which allowed for ample beach time and traveling around Australia and even New Zealand.