Study Abroad is a fulfilling experience that everyone should get to have Past Review

By Marcus P (BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT, MARKETING, AND RELATED SUPPORT SERVICES., Hamline University) for

ISA Study Abroad in Newcastle, Australia

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

Studying abroad is always worthwile in my eyes. I gained knowledge about who I am, and how people percieve me which is important in any aspect of a career. I learned that I am more independent that I thought, more spontaneous, and a lot more open for new things. It is a fulfilling experience that everyone should get to have.

Personal Information

The term and year this program took place:	Winter 2009

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	Lectures were long and unnecessary while tutorials were more hands on and helpful.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	A house with 2 other mates, each with our own room. 2 and half baths and a beach out our back door. Can't complain. <br /><br /> We had a large kitchen, and common area, our sundeck was very private, and outside our sundeck was a public park open to running, frisbee, rugby, soccer, etc. Passed the park was the ocean with beaches that ran around our penninsula.
* Food:	Best fish and chips I have ever had.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Went to the beach daily, played on an ultimate frisbee team, took surfing lessons, got to know the guys at the local food market. Everything was very cool.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	There are punk kids all over Newcastle. There were some incidents that were unavoidable but that comes with the territory. The program aided us on culture as a whole but not individual cities.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	No

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 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	I spent about 25 dollars a week for train tickets to get to school. 100$ on food and drinks a week as well. Plenty of things to do for free though.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Be careful when buying alcohol as there are very high taxes on them. Try to save money for alcohol because it is the most expensive thing that I experienced.

Language

How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	Fluent
Language acquisition improvement?	Australian language is similar. Almost a seamless transition and if you had any questions, Australians were happy to help.