Study Abroad at the University of Auckland, NZ

During the year of 2015, I studied abroad in Auckland, New Zealand at the University of Auckland. I only intended to stay for a semester, but the country captivated my heart within the first few weeks of being there and I extended my exchange to a year, completing two semesters at the university towards my Public Health Degree.

While abroad I became connected with Church Unlimited in Auckland, where I was engrossed in a life that only can be explained through experience. The opportunities I was given were incredible, from speaking in front of the entire congregation to preaching at a youth service to leading and mentoring young girls, the opportunities still amaze me to this day. I have become a voice for the young generation at Church Unlimited and a high-caliber leader in such a short amount of time. Come January I am planning on returning to New Zealand to be an Intern at Church Unlimited. Through the Internship, I will be able to expand my horizons through working with the youth, obtain work ethics that can be only learned through experience, and go deeper in my walk with God.

I feel God calling me back to New Zealand to not only work with the youth, but to reveal to me more of who I am in Him. This internship will help me with my future goals and will not be a wasted year, but a year of hard work, commitment, and growth. Taking a year off from my current studies will help me find who I am and the purpose I have for being here. This internship will help me determine where I want to take my Public Health Degree after I graduate. I am excited to see where this next year will take me and I cannot wait to be able to share the stories I will obtain with my family and friends when I come back in December.

"A semester was too short, a year was not long enough, so I am choosing a lifetime."

It had challenging academics which is what I was looking for. There wasnt much of a campus community because many students commute from home. The campus itself is beautiful. The teachers are very open to talk to you. The four classes I took were lecture classes with about 70 students each, but they provided tutorials. Most sfudents don't stay in campus dorms.

I had a great experience in New Zealand and absolutely loved the country. I was in Auckland all of three weekends while I was there, so I got to see all different corners of the country, and still didn't have time to do everything I wanted. Auckland is a good location to do this, but BUY A CAR, and LIVE WITH LOTS OF STUDENTS. I found finding an apartment in the city and getting around to be hectic to say the least. University of Auckland is a large school that it seemed like the majority of students commute to from home. It didn't have much of college culture or college feel to it and student social life was limited I found. There's heaps to do in the area though! I had an incredible time exploring all areas of the country and would recommend the program to anyone that's into the outdoors!

I didn't think one semester would be long enough to fall in love with a place like I did with Auckland. The city is beautiful, vibrant and amazingly safe compared to the big US city I attend university in normally. The university is huge but by joining the campus Glee club, I met fellow nerdy musicians and found a family of friends in the short time I was studying abroad. The classes are more final exam-oriented than classes in the US, so that was a strange transition, but the classes seemed to be of the same difficulty level of classes at home.

The University of Auckland was a great place to study abroad because it allowed me not only to get to know a city well, but to see a good deal of an amazing country.

Auckland itself has so much to offer, being the largest city by far in New Zealand. But it also allows access to all the amazing sites that you'll want to visit. Between rental cars, buses, and planes there is no part of the vast wilderness of New Zealand that you can't reach.

I also really enjoyed my classes at UoA. I took an introductory course about Maori people and culture that I would recommend to any international student studying at the university, it really gave a great background on New Zealand's political and social history.

The housing was new, clean, and easily accessible to campus. All of the interactions that I had with staff from the university were positive, and the International Office made it clear that they were available for support.

I've only been home a few weeks now but I'm already thinking about coming back to New Zealand at some point in the future!

Loved my experience in new Zealand. Easily the most beautiful country I've ever been to and I can't wait to go back. I found the academic rigor to be quite a bit less than my home university which I actually appreciated since it allowed me more time to explore the surrounding country.

I absolutely loved my study abroad experience! I am so glad I went to the University of Auckland. New Zealand is the most amazing country. There were so many amazing moments that I experienced, but the best moments were the times when I would just stop, closing my eyes, and just soak in the fact that I was in New Zealand. One of these moments was when I was traveling back from the south island on a stop in Wellington. My friends and I were only there for the day but we saw so many amazing things like the Te Papa museum and Botanic Garden and the harbor. It was an amazing day filled with adventure that really reminded me to take advantage of every opportunity.

I've wanted to study abroad since as long as I can remember, but I did not have a clear idea of where I wanted to go. I ended up in New Zealand because I wanted to go somewhere far far away, a place I had never visited before. And goodness, New Zealand is a breathtaking country! It made me wish I had opted for a longer program so that I would have time to see it all.

I chose the University of Auckland because I wanted to study in the city of Auckland and because there were good options for me to begin my studies there. The university staff are incredibly helpful and kind and made even my biggest troubles seem almost non-existing. The university city campus is only a few minutes away from the bustling Queen street and I even managed to score a room about half an hour away by foot. Housing was not taken care of through the university, hence my average rating.

Through this program I met people who became very important to me and I grew a lot a person. :)