USA – Tia
Student: Tia
Course: Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Communication
Program: Trimester exchange
Did you go on any memorable trips to explore your host country or a nearby country?
The trips are what I remember most vividly. Over Spring Break, a group of us road tripped to Sequoia National Park and then on to Lake Tahoe, staying in the most beautiful Airbnb along the way, easily one of the best road trips of my life. New York was its own kind of dream. Walking down 5th Avenue, wandering through Central Park and sitting on the Met steps felt like I had stepped into a Netflix sitcom. For my last two months I rented a car and got used to driving on the other side of the road, which opened up endless spontaneous adventures with my school mates. We would finish classes and go swimming in Malibu, drive down to Santa Monica Pier. Weekend trips to Santa Barbara and San Diego, and once we even woke up in San Francisco after deciding the night before to just go. We spent an unforgettable two days at a music festival in San Bernardino, and got to see LA at its most glamorous, with the celebrity buzz of Oscars season and Coachella in full swing. Living in LA felt like ticking off a bucket list I did not know I had, from trying In-N-Out for the first time to “I look to my right and I see the Hollywood sign”. Some days started with matcha and ended in a sunset on the golden coast, and it truly was one of the most beautiful chapters of my life.
How did you make friends and what sort of things did you do together?
I knew absolutely nobody when I landed, so making friends was something I had to do from scratch. I lived in a shared house with six other people, and by the end of the trimester they had genuinely become my family away from home. We explored the city together, went on road trips, and looked out for each other in a way I did not expect from people I had only just met. Those friendships are honestly one of the biggest things I took away from the exchange, and I know they will stay with me for life.
What was something that challenged you?
Being independent in a completely foreign country was the biggest challenge, in the best way. I had to work out how to open a bank account, manage money, get around, and build a whole new support system on my own, all while adjusting to a new university and a new way of studying. There was no one to fall back on the way I could at home, so I had to trust myself to figure it out. Looking back, that stretch of independence is what I am proudest of, because it forced me to grow up and problem solve in real time.
What is the one big thing you will always remember, or one big lesson you learnt?
Towards the end of my exchange, I realised the experience had become less about the place and more about the people. California gave me the setting, but it was the friends I made who gave the trip its meaning. I think the experience felt so vivid partly because I knew it had an end date. Knowing I only had four months made me show up fully for every opportunity that came my way, from classes to trying to get into a sorority chapter. I came home with a completely different way of looking at the world, and a level of confidence I did not have before I left.
What is your one piece of advice for a student preparing to study abroad?
Say yes to everything, even when it feels a little uncomfortable at first. The friendships, the road trips and the small everyday wins, like learning to drive on the other side of the road, only happened because I put myself out there. Embrace where you are, because every part of the world has different experiences and opportunities to offer. Deakin's support made it possible to take that leap in the first place, and it is genuinely one of the best decisions I have made. If you are considering an exchange, trust that you will figure things out along the way and let yourself enjoy every part of the process.