Coming Home

For me, the decision to study abroad was easy. I hate to stay in one place for too long, and tend to get antsy when I have to. I was ready to start my world travels, and I was extremely eager to do so. My family, however, was very surprised at my decision to study abroad. To them, this was an unexpected decision even though I had been talking about it for a while. Deciding to study abroad in Australia was easy, because my father studied here for a year during high school. It seemed like the logical choice for me because of that, and because of the marine biology classes here at JCU. When I decided to study abroad, I did take a step out of my comfort zone. I came to a new place, with a new culture and a different way of looking at the world. I had hoped to improve my awareness (of others, of my environment, of other cultures and of important issues) and to make a lot of new friends. 

Studying abroad is a very marketed aspect of the college experience. There are a lot of study abroad programs that help students to find the best place for their study abroad experience. Many of these organizations cost a lot of money, but they do take care of a lot of the nitty gritty. Money is always an issue - how much are things going to cost, what is the cost of living in the country I am planning to go to, what are market prices like, what are plane tickets going to cost, how much is the schooling, what is it going to cost to explore the country, etc. And because money is such a big deal, a lot of people don't get to study abroad. Funding is available, but a lot of people just say "oh, I don't have the means to do that" and keep on going with their lives. Before I came over here, a few of my friends said they never thought they'd be able to study abroad somewhere. This confused me because at Allegheny everything is clearly laid out for us and if we have a goal, ACCEL or our advisors can help us get there. I asked why they thought that and they said it was because they didn't think they'd get accepted. Here at JCU, almost all study abroad students are accepted because they recognize the importance of such an experience and they also want to broaden their international student body. There are a lot of international students at JCU, and they are always accepting more. I met a lot of people from all over the world, and I am so glad that I've been given this opportunity. 

The schooling here is a lot different than back in the states. The first scientific paper that I submitted here did not receive a very high mark, because the professor had a lot of problems with my formatting. However, I formatted things just like I normally do for my classes at home. I think that the organization and format of such global submissions like scientific papers should be standardized. I also learned that they are increasing the cost of higher education for males here, while keeping it the same for females. The education system is well grounded, and there are a lot of support systems, but for them to raise the cost for only one gender seems wrong. 

Studying abroad has been a wonderful experience, and I am so glad that I was able to come to Australia. Being able to come to a new country has opened my eyes to a lot of issues that I did not normally think about or acknowledge at home. I feel that this experience has helped me to become a "global citizen" and I feel like I can contribute more to the community that I live in. This opportunity has made me reevaluate myself and the world that I live in, and I believe that I have a better understanding of myself and where I am going. I have grown as an individual because of the people that I was able to meet by coming to Australia, and by the experiences that I have had here. I've made so many wonderful memories with some really fantastic people, and I'm sure that I'm going to stay in touch with many of the people here for a long time.