My semester on exchange at Curtin University in Western Australia was truly a life-changing experience. I have always appreciated spending time outdoors, being active and I love the ocean. When deciding where to go on exchange the city of Perth seemed perfect. When I saw the opportunity to escape the cold Canadian winter, I knew I had to go for it. I began with a few personal goals including pushing myself out of my comfort zone, but overall I did not know what to expect.
While on exchange, I lived on campus in a residence called St Catherine's College (St. Cats). Any prior worries about meeting people and making friends vanished within hours of my arrival at St. Cats. I cannot speak highly enough about my time at St. Cats, everyone was so friendly and welcoming from the start making me feel as though I belonged from the moment I got there. I was able to connect and form genuine relationships with so many people, which I did not know was possible in such a short time period. After coming home, it is such an amazing feeling knowing I met so many incredible people from all over the world. The residence was made up of 60% Australians and 40% international students so there were many people in a similar position as myself. The adjustment socially was very smooth and easy because of the effort and hard work the St.Cats staff and resident advisors put in to ensure it felt like home. Every week there was a bulletin posted with optional activities to participate in to have fun and get to know other residents. Some of my favourites included rock climbing, cold dips, and ice skating. This sense of community and belonging made moving across the planet much easier than I expected.
Living abroad allowed me to discover more about myself than I anticipated. I have been lucky enough to travel a fair amount with my family, but I have never had the opportunity to arrive solo and completely immerse myself in a new culture. I was able to build a strong network of friends who had traveled widely themselves. I grew to appreciate their maturity, independence and global perspective on life and it helped me deal with many of the challenges I faced starting fresh in a new country. Reflecting on my experience, I feel I am much more confident overall and have a stronger belief in who I am and what I am capable of. This was something I had struggled with in the past. Removing myself from my home country and comfort zone was intimidating at first but ended up being an extremely rewarding experience. I would highly recommend participating in exchange to anyone as it was amazing and it has given me a new perspective as to all the opportunities open to me once I graduate from Queens.
