by Christy Koumakis

Being back in New Zealand, I have mixed emotions. I was so happy to see my family and spend Christmas & New Year with them. On the other hand, it felt sad to have to say goodbye to the people and the place where so many good memories were made (I will definitely be back!). As I reflect on the past 5 months that I spent on my exchange, here are some things that stood out:

Highlights

A big highlight was the people that I met while on my exchange. Everyone was so kind. It was nice to have other exchange friends, but also friends who were locals. To have friends to meet in the uni library, go to workout classes together, meet for dinner and host movie nights and game nights. The funny problem I ended up with, is having two different events that I wanted to go to at the same time, so would either try and go to both or have to pick one. I really appreciated having both exchange friends and local friends. My exchange friends were amazing at being able to organise something at short notice. We all understood that while we are here to study, we also want to make the most of our exchange experience. I felt we definitely got to do this. My local friends helped me explore other parts of Arizona and the Phoenix area by exploring different coffee shops, hikes and food places.

Being able to travel during my semester was also a highlight. I went to Texas twice to visit friends. I also went to see family in California. We spent the day at Disneyland with it all decorated for Christmas. Because I had my experience with solo travel, I decided to take the opportunity to go to San Diego while in California. I felt like I got to explore so much and I could based on whatever I wanted to do. I found there was a lot of freedom in that. While I was there, a shuttle driver recommended a Mexican lunch spot, after looking it up online and finding my way to get there, I decided to check it out. It was so worth it as I had the most amazing California Burrito. I would go back to San Diego just for that burrito! That was the beauty of my exchange, I had so many big and little moments that made my exchange experience so special.

Surprisingly, a highlight is realising that something I was so hesitant about (to go on an exchange), turned out to be one of the best decisions I made.

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Challenges

One of the biggest challenges I faced was first saying goodbye to my family and then ironically, it was a big challenge leaving the States. I came to love my exchange so much, the idea of leaving was challenging.

Coming home has its challenges. All of a sudden, this exciting life you lived comes to an end and home feels like it didn’t change since you left. It does help for me to come back to New Zealand in the summer and get to enjoy the long summer nights and especially the beach after being so far from it for 5 months.

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What I learned & the impact on my future

One thing I have learned from my experience is that sometimes you have to do the things you know are right, but feel nervous to do. When I decided to travel solo before my exchange, I knew there would be challenges that come with it. If it weren’t for me being solo, I wouldn’t have had met certain people or had different conversations. It made my trip that much more memorable. It was a good reminder for me that while there is many different terrible things that happen in the world, to try and look for the kindness in people, especially people you don’t know very well.

My exchange experience gave me confidence, to travel solo, to put myself out there. I decided to try and meet as many people as possible. I wanted to get involved in a club. Ultimately all this helped me grow as a person. I feel stronger because of this experience, so I will take this into my career and life path, wherever I end up. The experience definitely encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone. I even held a snake!!!

To call another place home for a short amount of time and live amongst a different culture and environment gives you a broader understanding of the world that is sometimes hard to learn from a textbook. Sometimes you just have to experience it first-hand! I would highly recommend an exchange experience to anyone who wants to go.