Claudia's Exchange to Simon Fraser University | Canada
I can honestly still not come to terms with the fact that I am sitting in my room, in Simon Fraser University, located on a mountain situated just outside Vancouver which happens to be one of the most amazing cities in Canada a whole 25 hours and 3 flights away from Perth. There are only 3 weeks left of my time here at Simon Fraser University and I do not ever want to leave. Student exchange has changed my life. Seriously.
Exactly a year ago I began to look into the idea of going on exchange as it has always been one of my dreams. One month later I applied to come to Canada through the amazing and incredibly supportive Murdoch Study Abroad & Exchange Office. Before I knew it I received my acceptance letter for Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. I could hardly believe that I was actually doing this. To say I was overwhelmed with excitement is a huge understatement.
I believe that going on exchange is a very brave thing to do. Everyone underestimates that amount of character and resilience needed for this amazing experience and I include myself in that statement. The night before I was due to fly out I was terrified. I was heading to a country I had never been to before, flying alone for the first time and going to live alone on campus with no one familiar to me at close reach. These feelings came out of left field as I had only been excited up to this point and it shook my confidence and belief in myself. But I can honestly say that I wouldn’t change this night for anything in the world. It was the start of my journey on exchange and I was already beginning to learn who I really am.
As an exchange student you are provided with fantastic support from both your host university and home university. Socialising and integration is easy as they do most of the work for you. On your part you just have to make an effort and be enthusiastic. Murdoch put me in touch with other girls also going to SFU and since we have become great friends. SFU has excellent orientations and several events for international students all to help you meet people. The friends you make at these events all share the same interests as you. They are all really excited to be here and experience anything and everything possible. These are the people that you have once in a lifetime experiences and travel everywhere with. They are some of the best you will ever meet and I have definitely met amazing people being here.
I have also become friends with a few locals who have been kind enough to show me around and they have proven the Canadian stereotype of incredibly nice and hospitable people. I can safely say that my travel/sightseeing experiences during exchange have been fulfilled. I have become the girl with three cameras out constantly, one of them on the end of a short pole for maximum moment capturing. I have been all over Vancouver, to Seattle, through the Rocky Mountains, to Whistler, hiking on mountains and small trails and everywhere in between. This is one of the perks of exchange. Even though you are technically on exchange to study, being on a pass/fail system means that you can make the most of any opportunity to explore and travel. Also not working means that you can fully immerse yourself in campus life and devote your time to creating memories that you will be telling the grandkids one day in your senile years.
This sounds really cliché but I have really found myself and come into my own on exchange. It has given me skills that could never be learned in any classroom and I have grown as a person. Student exchange has opened my mind to new and exciting opportunities and possibilities. It has given me experiences and memories of a lifetime. Not only of amazing travels but of new friends from all over the world who I will forever keep in contact with. I have seen another country for the beauty and culture one misses by simply being a tourist. I am fully immersed in Canada and I know that when I come back in the future there will always be a part of me here.
My advice for anyone considering exchange? Do it. Pack your bags and go. Only 5% of Australian students go on exchange. Be one of the 5% and have the time of your life. You will never regret it and it will probably be the best thing you will ever do. I know it is the best thing I have ever done and I am proud to say that I have fulfilled one of my dreams and this dream has opened the floodgates to a world of possibilities. The only question now is where to next? THE REST OF CANADA AND ALMOST THE WHOLE OF AMERICA FOR TWO MONTHS AFTER UNI FINISHES IS MY ANSWER TO THAT!
Seriously go on exchange.
- Claudia studied abroad at Simon Fraser University in Canada
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