Greta Liu
Spring 2024 Study Abroad student from the University of San Diego
San Diego, United States of America
Hi! My name is Greta. I’m an exchange student from San Diego State University, and
I’ve lived in California my whole life. When I got the chance to study abroad at UTS, I was
overjoyed, but I had no clue what I was getting into. There were so many things to consider: will school be harder there, where will I live, are drop bears real, how concerned do I need to be about swooping season (slightly, but you should be more concerned with the spiders), what the hell is Vegemite, and so on. I was expecting an adventure, sure, but what I got was a life-changing experience.
For my first couple of weeks of living in Sydney, I felt I had made a grave mistake–what
did I think I was doing, moving across the world to a country I’d never visited? I experienced so much doubt about both my decision-making skills and my ability to tackle this new challenge. Looking back on this now, having lived here for three months, I can confidently say that studying abroad at UTS is the best choice I’ve ever made.
That’s not to say that it’s easy. This has been one of the greatest growth experiences of
my life, and that involves a degree of struggle that many will underplay. You are, in many ways, shedding a version of yourself and your life and stepping into a new one. I wish someone had warned me about this before I left–stepping into a new life requires a lot of work, pain, and effort. It is going to be hard. It’s uncomfortable to reckon with a new world, particularly when you’re alone. It requires you to get comfortable with yourself, spend time with yourself, be your best friend, and root for yourself when there isn’t anyone else to do it for you. This will be one of the hardest challenges you will face, particularly when you’re jet-lagged, sick, and grappling with culture shock.
My advice is this: push through it. It’s natural to get discouraged and to miss home. Some
days you might wake up just to cry for the first few hours. You might try to cook one of your
comfort meals just to realize that the tomato paste is sweeter here than back home, and it came out all wrong (speaking from experience). You might embarrass yourself with your cultural blind spots–when Aussies say “thongs,” they’re referring to flip flops. Simply put, there are a million things that can and will go wrong. That’s normal. The important thing is that afterward, you get up, splash some cold water on your face, and keep going.
Eventually, all of the hardship turns into valuable lessons you carry with you. This is
when things get fun: when you’ve battled through the adjustment period and you get to reap the rewards. For me, this happened when I was sitting on a rock in Gordon’s Bay, sunbathing after jumping into the clearest water I’d ever seen with the person who had become my best friend in Sydney. And then again, when I was staring at the Sydney Opera House, and again when I was sipping an Aperol Spritz at Bondi Beach. Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with some of the best coffee, and there is no shortage of experiences that will make you feel unbelievably lucky.
I would be remiss if I didn’t touch on UTS specifically, as it is an incredible institution
with wonderful courses. As a Sociology and Political Science double major, I had less options, since UTS is more STEM-focused. That said, the classes I got to take were engaging and interesting, taught by professors with genuine passion and care for their students. Culture: Plugged and Unplugged allowed me to dive into the sociological nuance of pop culture, while Aboriginal Sydney Now taught me about Indigenous history, culture, and contemporary issues. My classmates were kind and welcoming–they taught me all sorts of Aussie slang and only laughed a little when I called football “soccer”. The campus is beautiful, in the heart of the CBD, and there truly is no other place I would have rather attended.
To sum this up: studying abroad is an exceptional opportunity. There are very few times
in anyone’s life when they can start completely anew, move to an entirely new continent, and experience things they have never experienced before. By studying abroad, you open yourself up to a new world, a new life, and a host of new challenges that will shape you into a better and brighter you. If you have the chance to study abroad at UTS, you will be one of a select few who get to experience not only the pinnacle of education but also the most incredible city in the world. So, if you were wondering if you should study abroad–do it. Make the plunge. I promise you won’t regret it. I know I didn’t.
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