My Australian Adventure

Now that I'm home from studying abroad in Australia and have gotten to spend quality time with my friends and family, I can't help but look back and feel overwhelmed with gratitude and nostalgia for those many months I spent exploring. I feel so lucky to have been able to see so many parts of Australia including Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach and The Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven wonders of the world. This experience has left me ready to travel again but also taught me so many things about myself that I never would have known if I didn’t study abroad.

Being abroad taught me what it was like to live on my own and made me more independent. Traveling alone is now a breeze and the experience as a whole has made me more confident in my classes, jobs and positions here at Drexel.

I discovered my love for photography and was able to create a photobook and start a travel blog during my time in Melbourne. Studying photography at Swinburne University allowed me to see and capture some of the city’s most beautiful places. I spent outside class time roaming through the Royal Botanical Gardens and walking down St. Kilda Beach. The class also taught me how to properly use a DSLR camera which will really help me in my upcoming co-op but also my future career in the fashion industry.

Some of the highlights of my trip were attending Melbourne's World Vegan Day festival, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, island hopping in Thailand, and taking a road trip on the Great Ocean Road. These experiences allowed me to meet and engage with people from all over the world — not just Australia, but from Mexico and Denmark as well. After getting the opportunity to feed elephants in Thailand and have close-up experiences with kangaroos in Adelaide, I'm eager to continue traveling as much as I possibly can!

Even though living abroad for 5 months was an absolute dream, I did have my fair share of obstacles — like having to find my own place to live, getting my phone stolen and missing a flight to Sydney. But these were just small lessons learned and bumps along that way that have now turned into fun stories to tell.

Lastly, being abroad taught me what it was like to live on my own and made me more independent. Traveling alone is now a breeze and the experience as a whole has made me more confident in my classes, jobs and positions here at Drexel. If you are on the fence about studying abroad or are nervous to step out of your comfort zone, I encourage you to take the leap! You're guaranteed to make memories that will last a lifetime.