I will cherish for the rest of my life
I carried out my year studying abroad at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It was the first time I had been able to visit the country and it was such an amazing opportunity to live there for a year. It was also incredible to be able to study at such an esteemed university as the University of Melbourne and it had so many amazing facilities and resources that I was lucky enough to experience. The university is located towards the centre of Melbourne so I was able to stay in the heart of Melbourne and experience everything the city had to offer. The opportunity to study abroad also gave me the chance to take subjects that are not available at Reading, such as Neuromarketing, and the knowledge I gained from these additional modules will help me greatly as I progress with my degree. I also had the opportunity to try different sports and societies whilst studying in Melbourne and I joined the Pom team that was part of the University Cheer Society. The team was great fun and I was able to meet so many people and travel around Melbourne with the group. We also progressed to the national championships in the Gold Coast and we had an amazing time competing there and holidaying as a team.
Melbourne was an amazing place to live and study. It is a clean and friendly city that has so much going on and so many places to visit. The trams make it easy to travel around and from my accommodation it was only a 30 minute tram to the beach, which was great when the temperature went above 40 degrees! The city is also very multicultural and I was able to experience not only Australian culture but also the culture of many other countries without having to travel. Melbourne is home to many sports stadiums and my friends and I became avid fans of Australian football, otherwise known as Aussie rules. We would regularly visit the Melbourne Cricket Ground which has a capacity of 100,000 and an amazing atmosphere when one of the home teams is playing.
Studying abroad gave me the chance to meet so many people from all over the world. I made some great friends and we were able to go on some incredible trips exploring Australia. We went to Cairns and Airlie Beach in Queenstown and snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef and went on boat trips around the Whitsunday Islands. We also went on several road trips up the East Coast and visited Sydney as well as Newcastle, Byron Bay, the Gold Coast and Brisbane. We also drove along the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Adelaide and stopped off at a few vineyards along the way. We flew to Tasmania and explored Hobart and Launceston. We also rented a caravan and spent a week exploring the North Island of New Zealand. Studying abroad gave me so many opportunities to travel and make new friends and it is an experience I am very grateful for and will cherish for the rest of my life.
