IES Abroad in Auckland, New Zealand

Living in Auckland lit a fire in me to take on every day with no constraints, to deeply love people from entirely different walks of life, and revealed the blessing of speaking one's word into action. It was the most life-changing, inspiring, and empowering gift I have ever received. I went to class daily, but learned so much more from my interactions and relationships built outside the classroom. I took advantage of my 3-day weekends (I didn't have Friday class), and traveled every chance I could. I went deep-sea fishing, visited Goats Island and vacation homes with the locals, traveled to South Island to see Christchurch, Queenstown, and Milford Sound, and I joined the Canoe Club at Auckland Uni. I was the only member of IES to live in a home stay while I was abroad and I absolutely loved it. I wish I had invested more in the IES kids from America--whether that be visiting their flats after class or grabbing more meals with them, but overall I was able to balance my time between my host family and interacting with the other study abroad students just fine. Auckland was so so good to me and I cannot wait to return someday.