{"id":5031,"date":"2017-01-06T02:36:58","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T14:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/auip.com\/?p=5031"},"modified":"2017-01-06T02:39:59","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T14:39:59","slug":"last-minute-reminders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/last-minute-reminders\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Perspective: Last Minute Reminders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Shana-Kay Hart, the <a href=\"http:\/\/sovadownunder.com\/\">Penn State School of Visual Arts Down Under<\/a> student blogger, writes:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Ah, December. A time for ice-skating, warm beverages, and other holiday festivities as we draw closer to a new year. This last month is a time to prepare for 2017, spend time with family and friends, unwind before heading back to school, and in my case, prepare for my impending involvement in <a href=\"http:\/\/auip.com\">AUIP<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/auip.com\/programs\/australia\/visual-arts-in-sydney\/\">Penn State University\u2019s School of Visual Arts study abroad program<\/a> in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.australia.com\/en\/places\/sydney.html\">Sydney, Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-5032\" src=\"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_9118-152x300.jpg\" alt=\"5\" width=\"152\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_9118-152x300.jpg 152w, https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_9118-517x1024.jpg 517w, https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_9118.jpg 674w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 152px) 100vw, 152px\" \/> Hi everyone! My name is Shana-Kay Hart and I am a junior at Penn State University. I am currently studying and pursuing degrees in both Communications and Spanish. I have a great passion for traveling and learning about different cultures, so it\u2019s no surprise that upon discovering this program offered by AUIP through my university, I was immediately inclined to participate.<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of this two-week program, I hope to accomplish as much as possible: I want to see, do, and eat everything Australia has to offer! Needless to say, I\u2019ve bought many guidebooks and researched the top must-do activities and spots to visit in Sydney, Australia. If I\u2019ve learned anything from my previous study abroad and travel experiences though, it is that time waits for no one, and with just twelve days to accomplish everything, I\u2019ve decided to make a list of important lessons I have learned from traveling that I want to keep in mind while I am abroad &#8212; lessons to carry along that can\u2019t necessarily be found in a guide book. It is my hope that by writing them down, I will be reminded of them, which will in turn help me to make the most of my short time in Australia.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reminder #1: Be Present<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As much as possible! Before I know it, I will be back at my university and Australia will be just a memory. I want to make it a mission to be present in every moment of every day I am abroad.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reminder #2: Take Time To Reflect<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>From the moment I land in Sydney, my days will be packed with back-to-back activities and learning experiences. What is so great about this program is that my instructor encourages journaling as a way to keep track of and reflect on all that I\u2019ve done during my time there!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reminder #3: Say Yes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is important that I say yes to all opportunities and adventures that come my way. Whether it is the matter of trying a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestrestaurants.com.au\/nsw\/sydney\">new restaurant<\/a> or going on a hike to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.australia.com\/en\/places\/blue-mountains.html\">Blue Mountains<\/a>, I will say yes and take advantage of everything I am presented with.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reminder #4: Learn Something New<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a city like Sydney, this shouldn\u2019t be hard to accomplish. After my time in Australia, I want to leave the country confident enough to answer the question, \u201cWhat did you learn?\u201d and to share with my peers something the average person who hasn\u2019t traveled to Australia wouldn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, I am very much excited to get started! See you soon, Australia!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c  no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shana-Kay Hart, the Penn State School of Visual Arts Down Under student blogger, writes: Ah, December. A time for ice-skating, warm beverages, and other holiday festivities as we draw closer to a new year. This last month is a time to prepare for 2017, spend time with family and friends, unwind before heading back to school, and in my case,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[234,5,17,16,34,1],"tags":[98,235,46,236,237,48,61],"class_list":["post-5031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-2017-student-blogs","category-australia","category-australia-sydney","category-postcard","category-student-perspective","category-uncategorized","tag-australia","tag-guidebook","tag-penn-state","tag-psu","tag-school-of-visual-arts","tag-study-abroad","tag-sydney"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5031"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5043,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031\/revisions\/5043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}