Study Abroad in Australia: University of Canberra

The people. I am staying quite late in Canberra, as I want to hold onto my job to save money and to travel to Melbourne before heading back home, and it's tough (to say the least) to say goodbye to people I have gotten to know really well. As more and more people are going, you soon realize that it's the group of people that make an experience what it is.

I was lucky enough to be apart of two different great exchange groups during my time in Canberra, and they're people I'd love to see again and to keep in contact with. I've become really good friends with Australians as well, which is another reason why I'm sticking around for longer. Since I visited their country, I hope they can return the favor and visit mine!

I was very apprehensive before arriving here. Spending a full year away from home was pretty daunting considering the longest I've been outside my country before that was two weeks. The whole journey coming over here I actually spent most of it looking forward to when I come back home, so before, I used to always consider myself as a home bird, with no interest of seeing much of the world outside Ireland.

But now, on my return flight, I wouldn't bet against me looking forward to seeing the amazing people I have met again. I can't think of anything better than to take a year out and to travel around, having reunions with the closest friends I made here.

Make the most of it while you're here. There are brilliant ambassadors here who want you're experience of Australia to be as good as it can be, and how they do that is by organising many trips and parties. So I'd recommend to go to as many of them as your bank account allows you to!

Being in Australia costs money, so I missed a chunk of my second semester here as I was doing farm work, and I have to say it was frustrating to miss out on the orientation, and the twice-a-year Sydney trip to get to know all of the exchange students from my second semester. So another piece of advice is to try and get a job as early as possible, in order to afford everything, especially if you're here for the year.

Yes, of course! I wanted the adventure of exploring somewhere new. I went to Wagga Wagga, Australia, which wasn’t my first choice, but something I would never take back. It was here where I met my Aussie husband, decided to change my career path, and deepened my faith.

I also learned that the best places to study abroad are where you can meet the locals and have a true cultural experience. It’s not in the big cities, after all, where the kangaroos and native wildlife live! That’s one of the things I love about working at the University of Canberra too. We have more local students and even kangaroos on campus!

I’ve always wanted to visit Japan because I became close friends with two Japanese exchange students back when I was studying my undergraduate degree at UNCW. Japanese culture intrigues me, the people are extremely kind and the food isn’t bad either!

I love my entire team at the University of Canberra and I feel proud to be a part of the Study Abroad and Exchange team every day! We are all likeminded in our passion for travel and overseas study and we are all very creative and innovative, constantly looking for ways to improve- and implementing them.