USA – Bridget
Student: Bridget
Course: Bachelor of Arts
Program: Trimester Exchange at Stony Brook University
How did you spend your weekends?
Most weekends consisted of taking the train to New York City to explore different parts of the city and seeing a musical or two. A lot of international students would travel together and meet up for lunch during the day. Other weekends I would stay in Stony Brook and go watch a football or soccer game that was happening on campus. It was so much fun to support the Seawolves at a sporting event and see everyone get behind their teams. My friend and I would also go down to Port Jefferson which was a nearby town and explore the nightlife.
How did you make friends and what sort of things did you do together?
I instantly made friends with my 6 dorm mates as they were all super welcoming and looked after me for the first week. They introduced me to their friends as well, so I met a lot of people before even starting classes.
As an international student, people who I was in classes with were really interested in getting to know the Australian lifestyle, so it was pretty easy to start conversations with people. I also joined an on-campus theatre club which created an opportunity to make some really strong friendships. We caught up for lunch and dinner a lot during the week, then sometimes went out to nearby diners and restaurants on the weekends. We also went to watch musicals together and went to the movies.
How did you decide which study abroad opportunity to do?
Ever since graduating high school, I knew I wanted to study overseas at some point. Once I learnt Deakin over a range of study abroad opportunities, I immediately set my sights to study in New York. New York was my number one choice as I have always admired the city, and I believed that lifestyle would really suit me, which luckily it did.
I also wanted to experience that typical college lifestyle that you see in movies. Stony Brook University offered so many on campus opportunities with events, clubs, trips to the city, internships and education sessions for a range of different topics. In terms of studying, they also had many journalism classes which suited my major and I was able to take them. I even was chosen to go report on the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree which was something I will never forget.
What was something that challenged you?
I found the first three or four weeks into my exchange difficult. It was a majorly different lifestyle to go back home, and I felt a little overwhelmed. The workload was a lot more than what I was used to at Deakin, so I was worried about how I would do complete all the work without sacrificing exploring New York. After some time talking with my mum and getting used to my class schedule, I realised that it would all be ok and there is no use stressing over this.