Eric Borchers: Curtin University - Australia

I had never seriously considered studying abroad during my time at ISU until the fall of my sophomore year when a friend directed me towards an informational session about studying in Turkey.  All of a sudden, the wheels began turning in my head, and I thought, “I don’t have any big commitments for next semester, college is probably the best time in one’s life to travel, and frankly, living in a city of 15 million people on the other side of the world sounds slightly more interesting than another semester in Ames, Iowa.”  This began a semester-long process of negotiating with my parents, filling out the appropriate forms and preparing to dive into a completely foreign environment.

Three of us from ISU were set to leave in February for Istanbul, but shortly before it was time, our exchange program was cancelled due to the war that was presently looming in the Middle East.  So we were not to set foot on Turkish soil, but the Engineering International Programs office was determined to provide us with another international experience on very short notice.  After an intense few days of searching, we decided to study in Australia for the semester, as classes had not yet started there.  Only eleven days after I found out I was not going to Turkey, I was soaking up the sun in Perth, Western Australia.

And there was plenty of sun.  For at least three weeks we did not witness any clouds in the great, blue Australian sky (I can’t explain the science of it, but the sky really was bluer in Australia).  But that was just one of the perks of life down under.  Being next to the ocean afforded me the opportunity to surf a few times, snorkel and take in some great ocean views (side note – I thought surfing was just a novelty, but it’s actually quite a rush).  There is so much to see in Australia, and I didn’t even cover half of it.

While Australia was not the vastly different culture I was looking for in Turkey, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Perth is a fairly international city.  Besides Australians, I met and became friends with many international students from Asia and Africa.  And while Australians speak the same language as Americans, there are so many little differences in every day life that add up to make Australia a truly different culture. 

Studying at an Australian university also gave me some valuable insight about the way education works in other parts of the world.  It often seemed natural to snap to judgments about what is the “right” way of doing things, but on the whole I learned to be a lot more open to trying to learn new things.  I was happy to adopt some Australian customs while I was over there, and other things gave me a greater appreciation for my roots in the US.  I don’t like to use the cliché, but it is true that studying abroad gave me a broader outlook on life.  As an Aussie might tell you, there’s stacks of programs out there, so if you’re keen, sus one out today – it’ll be heaps cool.