Australia? Maybe next year . . .
Over the past few months, my mom has been bugging me about studying abroad and how I should apply to this study abroad program in France. There were a few different options but none of them really appealed to me. Either I would have had to master the French language in a few months (and it's been a while since I've had francais . . .) or not take any engineering courses while I was there. And besides, I'm just not to keen on spending a lot of time in a foreign country, away from everyone I know here.
As the study abroad deadlines for fall quarter 2005 have been approaching, I'm finding out that more and more of my friends are indeed studying abroad this fall. England, Spain, Switerland, Australia, etc. It dawned on me that there are OTHER study abroad options, like, not France. So, again partly because my mom thinks I should go abroad somewhere, I look at some of the programs elsewhere. In particular, at the ones in Great Britain (no serious language barrier!). I investigate, still not overly excited by the whole studying abroad deal, and find that some of the best candidates in the UK are mysteriously closed. Whatever.
So my mom suggests Australia, as somewhat of a last resort. Australia. Whoa. I think about it. That might actually be kind of neat. So read up on the programs there and find a few that sound really neat. And hey, I've always wanted to visit the Land Down Under at some point in my life - why not now? I delve further and read feedback of NU's past participants. Their comments are more or less the same:
- It's an awesome experience, I wish I could have stayed longer.
- Live with the Australians in the dorms, it's so neat.
- Just take a bunch of liberal arts courses and travel a bunch, it's the experience of a lifetime.
- Dorm food is terrible.
- "The Australians like to drink a lot: socially at 4 PM and heavily later on." (my personal favorite quote)
Ok ok, so apart from the subpar dorm food, studying abroad in Australia sounds AMAZING.
However, I come to this revelation a week before the application is due. It's techinically possible for me to pull it off but I'd have to fill out lots of forms, write a few essays, see several professors/deans, and get a bunch of things signed. I e-mail my academic advisor to see if he thinks I can do it but, alas, he's just left for the weekend to go to UMich. That and the fact that I would have little time for homework/studying for my midterms this week derailed the whole process for me.
Darn. Maybe my senior year . . . I still have to decide my major (double major?) so we'll see. An update on this whole thing far in the future.
And watching the Australian Open on TV hasn't helped quell the excitement of possibly studying there. Meh. Congrats though to Mr. Safin though for winning the tournament this year. The Aussies will have to wait a 30th year (at least) for a fellow Australian to win his home tournament again. And who knows, maybe Federer won't be so incredibly dominant in the tennis world this year? I wouldn't count on it though.
As the study abroad deadlines for fall quarter 2005 have been approaching, I'm finding out that more and more of my friends are indeed studying abroad this fall. England, Spain, Switerland, Australia, etc. It dawned on me that there are OTHER study abroad options, like, not France. So, again partly because my mom thinks I should go abroad somewhere, I look at some of the programs elsewhere. In particular, at the ones in Great Britain (no serious language barrier!). I investigate, still not overly excited by the whole studying abroad deal, and find that some of the best candidates in the UK are mysteriously closed. Whatever.
So my mom suggests Australia, as somewhat of a last resort. Australia. Whoa. I think about it. That might actually be kind of neat. So read up on the programs there and find a few that sound really neat. And hey, I've always wanted to visit the Land Down Under at some point in my life - why not now? I delve further and read feedback of NU's past participants. Their comments are more or less the same:
- It's an awesome experience, I wish I could have stayed longer.
- Live with the Australians in the dorms, it's so neat.
- Just take a bunch of liberal arts courses and travel a bunch, it's the experience of a lifetime.
- Dorm food is terrible.
- "The Australians like to drink a lot: socially at 4 PM and heavily later on." (my personal favorite quote)
Ok ok, so apart from the subpar dorm food, studying abroad in Australia sounds AMAZING.
However, I come to this revelation a week before the application is due. It's techinically possible for me to pull it off but I'd have to fill out lots of forms, write a few essays, see several professors/deans, and get a bunch of things signed. I e-mail my academic advisor to see if he thinks I can do it but, alas, he's just left for the weekend to go to UMich. That and the fact that I would have little time for homework/studying for my midterms this week derailed the whole process for me.
Darn. Maybe my senior year . . . I still have to decide my major (double major?) so we'll see. An update on this whole thing far in the future.
And watching the Australian Open on TV hasn't helped quell the excitement of possibly studying there. Meh. Congrats though to Mr. Safin though for winning the tournament this year. The Aussies will have to wait a 30th year (at least) for a fellow Australian to win his home tournament again. And who knows, maybe Federer won't be so incredibly dominant in the tennis world this year? I wouldn't count on it though.