No Regrets

Most of you already know, but for those of you who aren’t aware I’ve decided to broaden my educational horizons and participate in a study abroad program through SFU International. Those of you who go to SFU will know that ‘broadening you horizons’ is literally the cliché of the school, but it just seems fitting to use. So, this semester I will be trading in the cloud-shrouded mountaintop at Simon Fraser for Monash University in beautiful Melbourne, Australia, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to embark on this once in a life-time experience. From now until the end of June, five months, I will be living just outside the trendy metropolis of Melbourne in residences, and going to school among other things, namely traveling. It would be impossible for everyone to fit in my suitcase, so instead, I’ve created this blog so you can follow along from home or wherever you are. This is pretty exciting for me, as over the next few months I will be experiencing a whole new lifestyle and learning to adapt and live independently in Australia. There will definitely be lots to blog about and share for everyone who takes the time to read. I will do my best to update the blog as often as I can.

Here’s a little background information about why I’m going on an exchange and why I’ve decided to go to Monash. Basically, school is boring. As much as I enjoying going to school, there are a million other things that I’d rather be doing, like traveling. This being said, school is still important to me and I value having an education regardless of the hundreds of hours spent in lectures, labs and tutorials. So when I found out that SFU had one of the largest exchange programs in the country I literally jumped at the opportunity. What followed was numerous info sessions, meetings, and research, which led me the choose Monash University. I chose the school because I wanted to go somewhere that had better weather than SFU, which is anywhere, and where they taught in English. The obvious choice was to study in Australia. Monash was a great fit because it is close the city of Melbourne, but also because it has an excellent reputation for global research and innovation. The school is ranked as one of the countries top universities and has an undergraduate population of over 40,000! I was nominated for exchange last year and was accepted at the university last month. It has been a long wait and I’m ready to get this show on the road.

I’ve been planning this trip for a long-time and can’t wait to get started, and to share my experiences down under, whether they’re good, bad or just plain embarrassing. There’s no turning back now. I’m proud of what I have accomplished on my own thus far, no regrets.