My time Down Under January 05, 2023

By A student (Environmental Science, Middlebury College) - abroad from 08/09/2022 to 12/12/2022 with

Arcadia: Sydney - University of New South Wales

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

Attending a large university in a city was an experience completely different from Middlebury which was great. Learning how to navigate a city and an entirely new country was very eye opening for me. I enjoyed getting better at little things like cooking or mastering the public transportation system.

Review Photos

Arcadia: Sydney - University of New South Wales Photo

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	I thought the classes were fairly easy and I earned great marks. It may have been the classes I chose to take, but I was not challenged too much and the workload was very manageable.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	Arcadia was helpful at the beginning and before arriving, but then they mostly backed off and let us do our own thing.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	I lived in an apartment on campus with other Arcadia students and it worked really well and was a great experience.
* Food:	The food in Australia was pretty similar to the US, but I was cooking for myself so had freedom to make whatever I wanted.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	It was difficult to meet and spend time with Australian students since most lived at home and not on campus. I did meet some through clubs but didn’t form any lasting friendships. Not having any good local friends made it harder to get integrated into the culture.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?	I had no experience with health care but I think it was mostly straightforward for my roommates that did.
* Safety:	I felt really safe in Sydney. I took precautions such as not traveling alone at night, but I felt safe. They have banned pretty much all guns after a mass shooting many years ago, so which helped make me feel even safer.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes Arcadia really helped while I was still in the US before going. Once I got to Australia I was able to figure things out, but I’m thankful they took care of housing and some other basic things. Also, all my best friends were Arcadia students which was not a mistake.

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget? (1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)	Most of my expenses were groceries, drinks, and transportation. On a normal week, $100 was pretty accurate, but traveling was more expensive due to the cost of plane tickets, lodging, and car rentals.
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	100
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Figure out how much money you are willing to spend, and budget accordingly.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	No

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Apartment
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Americans
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Local Students Americans International Students
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with?	0

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	The friends I met The break from the Middlebury routine The beaches nearby
* What could be improved?	More help getting into classes I wanted Help meeting locals Better excursions
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	Join clubs if you want to meet locals. I tried joining sports clubs but most were not in season, so I ended up not really committing to any groups or clubs.

Reasons For Studying Abroad

To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you.	The Avid Adventurer The wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	The Sydney environment
Course Department:	BEES
Instructor:
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Not challenging, and a great introductory course to all things Sydney and Australia which was super helpful.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No credit to my major

Course Name/Rating:	Aboriginal Sydney
Course Department:	Indigenous studies
Instructor:
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Not a very challenging class, but the professor didn’t do a great job engaging the students. I learned a lot about Aboriginal history and culture though which I liked.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No problem

Course Name/Rating:	Coastal Resource Management
Course Department:	EnglishBEES
Instructor:
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	It wasn’t too challenging, and the lecture material was not really discussed in class. The projects were intended to be very applicable to real world jobs which was nice. Jes was a great professor.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No

Course Name/Rating:	Psychology of Music
Course Department:	Humanities
Instructor:
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	It wasn’t very challenging. Most of the work involved delving into scientific papers and critiquing the papers, rather than looking at the information in the papers. It was a very interesting class though and music is a fun topic because it is so relevant to most people’s life.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No issues