A must-have experience for any student with a global outlook

Going on a foreign exchange program had always been one of those dreams I'd had but never saw myself doing. As a rather reticent and studious person who'd rarely travelled without parents or friends, the prospect of flying solo half-way across the world to a foreign country by myself and living for 5 months without the usual support systems and social circles was daunting. I have my college St. Xavier's College and the support of Macquarie University to thank for giving me that final push.

This experience was absolutely amazing. As an undergraduate student who held ambitions of studying abroad, this was an extremely crucial preparatory stage in my academic career and personal development. I'm a Master's student in Canada now, and I can say the experiences I had in Australia and the confidence it gave me as a person has helped me settle in so much easier in what is another foreign country.

Academically the program was not excessively demanding. The education environment and teacher-student relationship is very different from India of course, but with some guidance it is easy to figure out what needs to be done. It can be difficult and daunting for some, but you come out a better person ultimately. The support from Macquarie's International team was phenomenal. In particular, I'd like to shout-out Ms. Yoko Kaitani, who was the most helpful and informative lady I had the good luck of interacting with. She and her team were lovely and made the entire process so much smoother especially during the initial settling down phases.

There were plenty of good opportunities to explore the city (it did rain during the city tour day but that can;t be helped) and other places like Taronga Zoo and taking cruises along the Sydney Harbour (which was awesome!). The campus was lovely and the Australian people are quite friendly and easy to get along with. The weather was rainy at first but soon enough cleared up and made for some lovely days of walking along the harbour.

I made amazing friends from across the world, lived with people from Japan, Malaysia, Korea, India, Laos, Oman, Hungary, UAE and so many other places, got exposed to a different form of education than the one I'm used to and came back a more confident person who finally pushed some boundaries and explored new horizons.