From October 11, 2018 to February 26, 2019, I was in beautiful Australia and completed a semester abroad at Griffith University in Gold Coast, where I took courses in the Bachelor of Business. Choosing Australia was not particularly difficult for me because I wanted to improve my English skills and at the same time wanted to discover something new that doesn’t necessarily exist in Europe. The selection of the university was also relatively clear, as Griffith University is in the top 3% worldwide. Fortunately, my stay abroad was financed by the Avicenna Studienwerk.
Preparations
My semester abroad was actually a spontaneous action that developed about two to three months earlier. With the support of MicroEDU, I was able to apply to the university of my choice without any problems and without great effort and to specify a large selection of preferred courses. Then I got my approval after a very short time and the preparations could start. After the course registration and the secure acceptance, I first had to pay the tuition fees in order to apply for a visa to be allowed to ask. I received my visa after a few days and so I was able to book my plane ticket with a clear conscience and the trip could start. As a rule, an apartment should not be rented beforehand, as there are often traps on the housing market and it is not safe. Therefore, I had booked a hotel room for the first week so that I could only look for an apartment during this time.
Departure and apartment search
Since Australia is not just around the corner, a stopover in Dubai had to be made after an eight hour flight be inserted. I took advantage of this and postponed my next flight to spend a few days in Dubai and explore this city. When this was done, I made my way to the airport to take the sixteen-hour flight to Australia. A driver was already waiting at the airport in Brisbane, who was sent on behalf of the university and drove me to my hotel. Having difficulties fighting jetlag, I tried to find a suitable and furnished apartment on realestate.com.au in the first week and found it within the next three days. If you are looking for a flat share, I can recommend gumtree.com.au. All sorts of things are offered on this page, such as shared apartments, beds, TVs, etc.
Start of the semester
During the orientation week I was able to make many contacts and was welcomed by warm “Griffith mates”, who guided the international students through the campus and also organized day trips for us. So we started with a positive feeling and the first week of the semester began. In the beginning it was of course difficult to follow the professors continuously, but this subsided after about two to three weeks.
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In Germany we were used to not writing the exams until the end of a semester and that this is also our only performance review. Unfortunately, this was not the case in Australia. A performance review (online exams, presentations, term papers, essays, etc.) was carried out in each course every other week. Of course, this system seemed more complex to us than the system at our German university, but we were able to get used to it quickly. It also quickly became clear to us that we were following the important course content, that we were always on the ball and that it was easy for us to take the final exams at the end of the semester.
Before I started the semester abroad, my English skills weren’t that good, so I feared I would have difficulties at university. Fortunately, this was not the case and my English skills improved rapidly. I was also able to communicate very well with Australian citizens despite the strong dialect.
Closing words
After a successful semester and passed exams, I had to say goodbye to this beautiful country, which was very difficult for me. Of course I missed my friends and family, but at the same time I would miss the atmosphere and people in Australia as well as the incredible nature.
Since a stopover also had to be made on the return flight, I took the opportunity to stop in Singapore and take a look at this fascinating country.
The semester abroad was a complete success in every respect and I was able to gain a lot of unique experiences. By being on your own and spending time alone, you get to know yourself better and develop your personality. Of course, it is sometimes uncomfortable to speak to strangers and it takes a lot of courage, but once the first friendships have been made, it seems easier. A semester abroad usually brings only valuable experience and I can really recommend everyone to live abroad alone. This gives us new knowledge about ourselves and experiences that cannot be gained in our usual environment.
