What are your goals and objectives for studying abroad?
Studying abroad is a huge step out of the norm for me (as it probably is for a lot of people). I really haven't been much a traveller up to this point, which is very clearly demonstrated by the list of foreign countries I've previously been to: Canada... which is a few hours north of where I live and is hardly "abroad". I've tried to not establish any expectations for what the next five months will hold because I'm sure that the experience will be different than any preconceived notions I could conjure up in these past few weeks leading up to my departure.
All that aside I do have some goals for this experience. First, I want to, not only meet, but really interact with and get to know people from all over the world. I've spent my entire life in New England which can be a pretty impermeable bubble to the rest of the world if you let it be. I'll be living at Ilam Village at the University of Canterbury which is where a lot of international as well as New Zealand students are housed so this should lend itself to my goal. I've hardly developed what anyone would consider a worldly perspective, but hopefully this experience will give a push in the right direction.
Secondly, it is relatively well-known fact that New Zealand is where a lot of extreme activities are popular (bungee jumping was invented there so I would expect no less). In terms of such activities, I really tend to play it safe (and by safe I mean avoid them entirely), but if there's ever a time to step out of that comfort zone I think the next 5 months are ideal. So, in short, I'd like to do at least one extreme activity while I'm over there. i have no idea what form this objective will take, but my intense fear of heights might limit my possibilities or it might now, I guess I'll just have to wait and see where life takes me in the coming months.
Thirdly, I'd really like to take advantage of all the natural beauty New Zealand has to offer. I've heard nothing but amazing things about the landscape there and, even though I would hardly consider myself an outdoors person, I would like to push my limits on that front if it means getting a deeper understanding and acknowledgment of the beauty of the country. Along with that goal I'd like to travel a lot within New Zealand, exploring what both the north and south islands have to offer.
What do you hope to gain from this experience (personal, academic, career)?
Looking back at the descriptions I have just given regarding goals and objectives they all seem to rely quite heavily on the personal confines I view myself as having. I really think that if there is ever a time to push your limits on your boundaries it would be during an experience like this. An increase of personal depth is what I really hope to gain personally from this whole experience.
In terms of academia I think it will be incredibly interesting to see how a foreign culture approaches methods of teaching, learning, etc. and how such methods differ from what we practice here in America. Additionally, it will be very interesting to be see how both their academic, social, and political worlds view America.
I'm honestly not sure what I hope to gain from this experience in terms of my career. That is largely because I honestly am not sure what my career will be after I graduate in a few years. I guess I hope to gain knowledge from this experience that will help guide me in my post-graduate years when I'll inevitably begin and pursue a career of who knows what. I think that has been a goal of my entire collegiate experience thus far, and studying and New Zealand in no different in that respect.
Why did you select the program you are going on?
I really did not have a long, strenuous thought process going into my program selection. I knew that I did not want to cope with the stress of dealing with a language barrier. Plus the only language I am somewhat competent in aside from English is Spanish and neither Spain nor Latin America had any immediate draw to me. I had always heard that New Zealand was a beautiful place and that the people were some of the nicest from friends and family who have or have know someone who travelled there. Now, I would never claim to be someone who knows a lot about any foreign country, but New Zealand, for some odd reason, struck me as an incredibly interesting place to visit. On some level I suppose I went with a gut instinct on why I selected the country I did. I chose to go to the University of Canterbury in Christchurch on the south island because it a smaller city than Auckland (the other program Northeastern has an association with) and I had heard that the south island was the more rural and scenic of the two islands. Those two facets led me to choosing Christchurch over Auckland in the end, but to be honest there wasn't a whole lot of science in my processing of narrowing it down to New Zealand in the first place.
How does it feel to leave friends, family, and NU behind?
It feels really strange to be leaving everything and everyone behind. I have been avoiding letting the fact that I'm leaving set in for the past few months and honestly, that hasn't changed now that I'm in my final hours in America for the next five months. I'm still somewhat avoiding facing the fact that I'm really going half-way around the world in less than 48 hours. It is truly a remarkable thing to think about the more I let it sink it. Even though I know I will have an amazing time over there I am truly going to regret having to leave all my friends and family behind. Hopefully I will be able to keep in touch with those who wish to keep in touch with me and this blog should help keep everyone posted with what I'm up to. My next entry will be from half-way around the world.
Studying abroad is a huge step out of the norm for me (as it probably is for a lot of people). I really haven't been much a traveller up to this point, which is very clearly demonstrated by the list of foreign countries I've previously been to: Canada... which is a few hours north of where I live and is hardly "abroad". I've tried to not establish any expectations for what the next five months will hold because I'm sure that the experience will be different than any preconceived notions I could conjure up in these past few weeks leading up to my departure.
All that aside I do have some goals for this experience. First, I want to, not only meet, but really interact with and get to know people from all over the world. I've spent my entire life in New England which can be a pretty impermeable bubble to the rest of the world if you let it be. I'll be living at Ilam Village at the University of Canterbury which is where a lot of international as well as New Zealand students are housed so this should lend itself to my goal. I've hardly developed what anyone would consider a worldly perspective, but hopefully this experience will give a push in the right direction.
Secondly, it is relatively well-known fact that New Zealand is where a lot of extreme activities are popular (bungee jumping was invented there so I would expect no less). In terms of such activities, I really tend to play it safe (and by safe I mean avoid them entirely), but if there's ever a time to step out of that comfort zone I think the next 5 months are ideal. So, in short, I'd like to do at least one extreme activity while I'm over there. i have no idea what form this objective will take, but my intense fear of heights might limit my possibilities or it might now, I guess I'll just have to wait and see where life takes me in the coming months.
Thirdly, I'd really like to take advantage of all the natural beauty New Zealand has to offer. I've heard nothing but amazing things about the landscape there and, even though I would hardly consider myself an outdoors person, I would like to push my limits on that front if it means getting a deeper understanding and acknowledgment of the beauty of the country. Along with that goal I'd like to travel a lot within New Zealand, exploring what both the north and south islands have to offer.
What do you hope to gain from this experience (personal, academic, career)?
Looking back at the descriptions I have just given regarding goals and objectives they all seem to rely quite heavily on the personal confines I view myself as having. I really think that if there is ever a time to push your limits on your boundaries it would be during an experience like this. An increase of personal depth is what I really hope to gain personally from this whole experience.
In terms of academia I think it will be incredibly interesting to see how a foreign culture approaches methods of teaching, learning, etc. and how such methods differ from what we practice here in America. Additionally, it will be very interesting to be see how both their academic, social, and political worlds view America.
I'm honestly not sure what I hope to gain from this experience in terms of my career. That is largely because I honestly am not sure what my career will be after I graduate in a few years. I guess I hope to gain knowledge from this experience that will help guide me in my post-graduate years when I'll inevitably begin and pursue a career of who knows what. I think that has been a goal of my entire collegiate experience thus far, and studying and New Zealand in no different in that respect.
Why did you select the program you are going on?
I really did not have a long, strenuous thought process going into my program selection. I knew that I did not want to cope with the stress of dealing with a language barrier. Plus the only language I am somewhat competent in aside from English is Spanish and neither Spain nor Latin America had any immediate draw to me. I had always heard that New Zealand was a beautiful place and that the people were some of the nicest from friends and family who have or have know someone who travelled there. Now, I would never claim to be someone who knows a lot about any foreign country, but New Zealand, for some odd reason, struck me as an incredibly interesting place to visit. On some level I suppose I went with a gut instinct on why I selected the country I did. I chose to go to the University of Canterbury in Christchurch on the south island because it a smaller city than Auckland (the other program Northeastern has an association with) and I had heard that the south island was the more rural and scenic of the two islands. Those two facets led me to choosing Christchurch over Auckland in the end, but to be honest there wasn't a whole lot of science in my processing of narrowing it down to New Zealand in the first place.
How does it feel to leave friends, family, and NU behind?
It feels really strange to be leaving everything and everyone behind. I have been avoiding letting the fact that I'm leaving set in for the past few months and honestly, that hasn't changed now that I'm in my final hours in America for the next five months. I'm still somewhat avoiding facing the fact that I'm really going half-way around the world in less than 48 hours. It is truly a remarkable thing to think about the more I let it sink it. Even though I know I will have an amazing time over there I am truly going to regret having to leave all my friends and family behind. Hopefully I will be able to keep in touch with those who wish to keep in touch with me and this blog should help keep everyone posted with what I'm up to. My next entry will be from half-way around the world.
