Program Reviews

Before my experience abroad, the word "home" made me think of my parents house which I grew up in. While studying for almost half a year in New Zealand, I now think of the small student flat that I stayed in as my second home. New Zealand proved to be an adventurous, exciting, and friendly place. Whether I was watching the sunset and yellow eye penguins on a beach near campus, or summiting one of the many cool mountains, I had a smile on my face and a content feeling in my heart. For an outdoor enthusiast, the University of Otago was the perfect choice for a semester full of learning, growing, and fun!

This country has everything an adventurous outdoors student could want. Even in the local area surrounding Dunedin, there is so much to explore (if one has a car). The peninsula is packed with great spots to sight see, rock climb, surf, and explore. University of Otago students foster a fun lifestyle that allows for lots of socialization. Overall, the south island offers so many opportunities for all sorts of adventures regardless of the activity.

Not only are all the teachers friendly, but they are incredibly direct and clear with their teaching style. The material covered is both stimulating and enriching, providing a diverse teaching style from the U. S.. Students have 3 teachers, who specialize in their own individual topics, to one course (in sciences) compared to the one in the states. My zoology classes consisted of publish readiness lab writings and field components. Aside from academics, Otago's backyard has the steepest street in the world, beautiful hike/tramp tracks (such as Silver Peaks), and some of the greatest mix of chill and entertaining Kiwis you'll meet. Not to mention incredibly accommodating international housing staff! The beauty of colorful sunsets and nightly milkyway will be missed; hiking/tramping is not the same outside of New Zealand!

I have never been the biggest hiker, but I knew if I were going to New Zealand I would have to become one. While abroad I went on the most challenging hike I have ever done. Two of my friends and I set out on a two day forty six mile hike early one Saturday morning. I set out confident, thinking how hard could this be? Boy was I wrong. We endured every weather condition possible; rain, sleet, snow, hail, wind, and occasional sunshine. It was tough and at times I just wanted to give up. However, giving up is not an option when you are miles away from a town. So I pushed on and that day completed the first twenty miles of the forty six mile hike. We stayed the night in a hut and the following morning set out back home. That day was absolutely grueling. I was sore, it was cold but the views made all the hard work worth it. I have never seen anything as spectacular as I did that day. We pushed on and twenty six demanding hours later made it back to the car. The sense of accomplishment after completing a hike I never thought I could do, is a feeling I will never forget.

This was the best five months of my life. I was able to experience independence in a safe and somewhat familiar environment. I was able to travel, make friends, and embark on a multitude of outdoor adventures.

Otago University is the best university in the southern hemisphere. The professors are outstanding and love to help international students. Definitely recommend joining the tramping club as it's a great way to go on organized, overnight hikes, and you can also meet a lot of people! Dunedin is a beautiful city and it's pretty easy to travel around the south island. The community is very warm and welcoming and I will always be a scarfie at heart.

I studied at Otago for a semester my junior year of college and it was the best 6 months of my life to date. I met incredible Otago students and staff, loved the accommodation provided by Uni flats, overall loved the culture and social scene of Dunedin, and felt like I had an overall incredible experience. There are so many international students at Otago, which was awesome to experience and meet so many different people from different places. Otago has great resources and staff. There is so much to explore in Dunedin and the South Island in general. I loved received e-mails from the Tramping Club, the resources that could be rented at Unipol, such as packs, tents, and so much more. Overall, I had the most incredible experience- met lifelong friends, saw so much, went on amazing adventures, learned a lot, and I can't wait to go back and visit Dunedin and New Zealand as a whole!

I had an incredible semester at the University of Otago! It was an interesting transition coming from a small school of 3500 students to living in Dunedin and attending a larger institution. Although it was a different dynamic and style of teaching, I enjoyed taking a Communication elective, a Maori cultural class, a Hinduism and Buddhism class and a Zoology science class. It was relatively easy to get adjusted to the larger class sizes and finding my way around campus. I liked living close enough within walking distance from all of my classes. The flats were an awesome place to live abroad and I had a great time getting to know my other flatmates. It was an incredible experience overall and I would recommend it to anyone!

One of the most euphoric experiences that I still remember so vividly is when the Highlanders won their game on July 4th. This was the first night I went out after arriving in Dunedin on the 3rd. I was still getting used to my new surroundings and anxious about meeting new people. I went to the Bog to watch the game with a small group of people from my program. The place was absolutely packed. Standing shoulder to shoulder with serious fans, the atmosphere in the bar was like nothing I have ever experienced (and I'm from a big college football town). I had also never watched a rugby match before. The team pride and cheer was contagious. At the end, my face hurt from smiling and voice was strained from yelling and singing along to "We Are the Champions," a song led by the bartender who was standing on the bar and recording the event on his Iphone. A bunch of people went out to celebrate afterwards (the celebration went on all night). I met so many fun people. In just one night, I was completely reassured that my semester here was going to be incredible. Easily the best Fourth of July I've ever had.

I studied film and art at the University of Otago, 2015. I learned so much about Maori culture in my film class, art class, and Maori society class. Wonderful experience which challenged my view of the world and native cultures.