Andrew's Exchange to University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire | USA
If you can do an exchange program you should. That’s my view on this experience and as cliché as it sounds, studying and living abroad was really the best thing I ever did. My names Andrew and I studied abroad at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire in the United States for semester 1 and 2 of 2016. The seemingly endless filling out of papers and applications and the back and forth of emails to organise student exchange instantly became worth it when I touched down in Milwaukee Wisconsin at midnight January the 11th. The freezing cold and drive from the airport to my hotel was exciting enough in itself, coming from a Perth summer to a freezing Midwest winter was something I won’t forget.
I chose to study in Wisconsin because I wanted to be somewhere off the coast, somewhere cold and honestly I didn’t know a whole lot about what each place in the US was like so it seemed like a good idea, and I’m really glad I did. The cold is not for everyone, but living around the snow and -25 temperatures some nights was something that coming from Western Australia obviously I’d never had to deal with. To me it was a really interesting and unique part of my time abroad and a true winter is an undeniably beautiful and unique thing to live through. The town I was in, Eau Claire, is a small Wisconsin college town with a population of 60’000. What became immediately apparent was that the Midwest, and every state in America has its own strong sense of cultural identity and belonging. To add to that, Americans have a strong sense of community and deep feelings of pride in the institutions they are a part of, especially their universities.
I mostly spent my time in the balance of hanging with other exchange students, meeting and making American friends, fulfilling my study obligations of course and experiencing and exploring American life. You will instantly develop a connection with other exchange students, as you are all sharing the same experience. This is a great thing and very important, but I would highly recommend not falling into the bubble of just being around other exchange students. The most rewarding part of my experience was getting to know Americans and people around the Eau Claire community.
Another amazing part of study abroad is the opportunity to travel. I was fortunate enough to have two semesters in the USA, something I would also recommend as one semester goes by very quickly and spending one year in a place feels like you’ve really lived there. Over the summer I took the opportunity to travel around the US, I visited Minneapolis/St Paul, Madison, Chicago, Toronto, New York city, Washington D.C., Miami, New Orleans, Austin Texas, Las Vegas, Zion national park, Phoenix Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and San Francisco. My favourite place was definitely Chicago.
And I’d be remiss in mentioning that I discovered my love of Ice Hockey while studying abroad and have come back to Australia and began playing, there’s no atmosphere quite like a college hockey game. Once again student exchange was easily the best thing I ever did, leaving was hard but I am perpetually in touch with my American friends and plan on returning one day.
- Andrew studied abroad at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Clare in the USA
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