My name is Alene Israel and I have been abroad in Australia since June 26, 2015 to study at the University of Adelaide. I will be returning to from my exchange sometime in August 2016 to complete my studies at McMaster in biochemistry.

I’ve always wanted to visit or even live in Australia, I always thought of it as a warmer version of Canada, which would be ideal because I’m not too fond of the cold. I have some family and friends in Australia, which helped with the decision to study abroad at this location. Adelaide was actually my third choice of universities, my first two were Sydney and Wollongong, but luckily it was a blessing in disguise. I love it so much here.

I originally wanted to go on exchange because I was feeling stressed and I was surrounded by people who were negatively influencing my emotions. I felt like I was in a rut and I wanted a new experience where I could discover myself without being influenced. People always say they go to university to discover themselves but I have a different opinion; I think you discover other people in university, but you discover yourself when you travel. It gives you a chance to step out of your comfort zone and try something new, or try something you think you wouldn’t like to see if you really don’t like it. It gives you opportunities to be spontaneous and adventurous so that you can really learn to trust yourself and find out your interests. I got to try bungee jumping for the first time recently. I was absolutely terrified, but I did it all on my own and I found out that I can be brave, face my fears, and even have fun doing it.

My experience abroad has brought me an appreciation for other cultures as well as my own. It’s also helped me with some important life skills like time management, budgeting and prioritizing.

The benefits to going on exchange are endless. I’ve made some unbreakable bonds with people from all over the world experiencing exactly what I’m going through, as well as some Australian locals. In addition to getting to travel to Australia, I also got to travel to nearby countries like New Zealand or several states within Australia and really explore the country. I’ve been to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, and Brisbane. I’m currently traveling through both north and south islands of New Zealand, and I plan to go to Bali (Indonesia), Cairns, the outback, and Hawaii before going back to Canada. The beauty of traveling while on exchange, especially so far away, is that you’ll likely never go to these countries or do all these things otherwise because it would cost a lot more to fly to all these places from Canada. Another benefit is that you really get a chance to feel relaxed and stress-free. I can truly say that I’ve never been so happy in my entire life.

The schooling here in Australia is a little easier than Canada and has a smaller workload. I’ve also planned it in a way that would allow me to mostly take electives while abroad so I can just take courses that interest me while abroad that maybe McMaster doesn’t offer or compare to the ones they do offer. Example, since Adelaide is a city famous for its wines and vineyards, there are several courses on winery offered at this school. Also, for most faculties the MacAbroad program works off of a pass or incomplete system. So if you fail a course while abroad, it won’t count as a fail at McMaster, it will count as an incomplete, and none of your marks abroad will affect your GPA.

There are also some clubs at the different universities that aren’t available at McMaster. It gives you a chance to get ideas and perhaps start a club back home or give the host university some ideas from back home. This year I joined a water-ski club and had tons of fun learning to water-ski. As far as I know, McMaster doesn’t have a comparable club. There’s also great exchange clubs abroad, one in particular that I’d be interested to bring back to McMaster called ESN (Exchange Student Network). In Adelaide this club runs many social events throughout the year to explore the city. They do quiz nights, tours of the nearby beaches, wine tours, surfing lessons, pub crawls, swimming with dolphins and sharks, and much more.

Although, with so many benefits, it is not without its drawbacks. Most of which concern missing out on opportunities back home. Example, since I started at Mac I’ve wanted to be a rep, and since I flew out in June I couldn’t do it last year, and I couldn’t secure a Skype interview. Since it is my final year when I return, I will never have that repping experience. This write-up allows me to still promote the exchange program and inform students about it as I would have done as a rep because I don’t think people know how easy and beneficial it is. Missing family back home is quite common but you have so much support from other exchange students with the same feelings. This year I got to spend Easter at a beach house full of students from Leeds and we all shared Easter traditions that would normally be with our families. The biggest drawback, however, would be financing the entire trip with all its mini explorations. Despite it being pretty pricey, there are definitely some aids and ways of working around that because it is absolutely worth it. Here in Australia the minimum wage is nearly double the Canadian minimum and it’s relatively easy to get a job so I was able to get one over the summer to help pay for the expensive rent and some trips. The exchange program also offers a $1,000 scholarship for anyone qualified to go abroad. There’s also several other scholarships available geared towards exchange students and even a bursary.

The experience itself is just spectacular and I can’t do it enough justice no matter how hard I try. I’d encourage anyone going on exchange to make a travel bucket list and try to do as many things as you can if the opportunity presents itself, even if it’s not on the list, do it, be open to do anything. Also, if possible, document whatever you can. One of the items on my bucket list, a very vague one I might add, was to “be wowed”. I thought it was too vague to mean anything and I won’t know when I’m “wowed”, but one of the very first weeks in Australia (and almost every day since) I’ve been wowed by the same thing – the spectacular view of the night sky and countless number of stars you can see.

I knew the exact moment I was “wowed” because for some reason the only thing I could conjure up to say every time I see it is “wow”.

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To learn more about exchange opportunities visit the International Student Services website.