{"id":3029,"date":"2013-08-02T12:37:52","date_gmt":"2013-08-02T00:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/auip.wordpress.com\/?p=3029"},"modified":"2013-08-02T12:37:52","modified_gmt":"2013-08-02T00:37:52","slug":"student-perspective-dont-wait-just-go-study-abroad-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/student-perspective-dont-wait-just-go-study-abroad-in-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Perspective: Don\u2019t wait, just go study abroad in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caroline Marion, 2013 South Queensland<\/a> student blogger, writes:<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Caroline<\/a>

Caroline and classmates hanging out with the roos at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary<\/p><\/div>\n

Now that I\u2019ve completed my study abroad experience and I\u2019m finishing my blog series, I want to take time to sum up my journey in Australia<\/a>. In short, it was more than I expected in so many ways. I used to get homesick fairly easy, so I knew that a whole semester exchange wasn\u2019t exactly up my alley. One day I was walking through the halls of Jordan, a building on NC State<\/a>\u2019s campus, when I saw a poster for an information session on this program. Given I\u2019m a Marine Science major, the giant sea turtle on the poster especially caught my eye. I decided then and there that I would go to the informational meeting and investigate more.<\/p>\n

If the sea turtle wasn\u2019t enough, I can\u2019t stress this enough, the professors leading the program, Roger and Annette Moore, whom I met at this meeting, are sincerely two of the nicest people I have ever had the opportunity of meeting. They made me feel more than welcome to just come inquire about the program. Having professors take such personal interest in me was a unique and welcomed encounter. During the meeting, we talked about the program academics and activities, most of which involved the outdoors. This immediately made me even more attentive than I already was. Six credits received whilst studying in the field in Australia sounded like a good plan to me!<\/p>\n

\"Scuba<\/a>

Scuba diving with manta rays at Lady Elliot Island<\/p><\/div>\n

Once I decided to study on the program, I spent immense time searching and applying for funding, but I did in the end receive funding to go on this amazing adventure. I cannot summarize in one blog post how remarkable this study abroad experience is. I have never met a student who did not enjoy study abroad, but if you talk to anyone who has been on this specific AUIP<\/a> South Queensland program, they\u2019ll quickly tell you that we FELL IN LOVE with it.<\/p>\n

\"Caroline<\/a>

Caroline and friends supporting the Brisbane Lions at an AFL game<\/p><\/div>\n

I met countless individuals on this program with whom I will remain close friends for years to come. They became my best friends on the program, and we, as a group along with our professors, were able to embark together on such an exciting voyage. From the engaging local field guides to AUIP\u2019s Eleanor Mitchell<\/a>, who met us in-country, everyone made us feel welcome and at home. This program isn\u2019t sitting in a classroom and learning about the world around you, it\u2019s about going out and experiencing this world you\u2019ve been taught so much about. It\u2019s culturally, personally, and educationally enriching.<\/p>\n

\"Wolfpack<\/a>

Wolfpack Abroad South Queensland, Australia 2013 group<\/p><\/div>\n

What I am trying to say is go. Just go, step outside your comfort zone and do it. I can assure you, it is a decision you will not regret. Go swim with sea turtles, go experience the Outback, go hike the Australian rainforests, go make amazing friends, and go surprise yourself. You\u2019ll be amazed at how much this experience positively adds to your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caroline Marion, 2013 South Queensland student blogger, writes: Now that I\u2019ve completed my study abroad experience and I\u2019m finishing my blog series, I want to take time to sum up my journey in Australia. In short, it was more than I expected in so many ways. I used to get homesick fairly easy, so I knew that a whole semester…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,22,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2013-student-blogs","category-australia-south-queensland","category-student-perspective"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3029\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}