TEAN - Australia - Murdoch University, Perth

Going to Perth I had no idea what to expect. I went in knowing nobody but ended up with more friends than I could imagine. Before studying TEAN had us meet in Cairns for a week to meet other people in the program. I made friends that went to Murdoch as well and I hung out with them every week; even the ones that went to Sydney became close friends as I saw them throughout the semester. In Perth I was quickly immersed into every day life which I loved. Me and some TEAN friends along with others I had met went on lots of road trips and camping trips all the way from Esperance down south to Karijini waaaaay in the outback. Through TEAN I was able to surf and explore the island right off the coast of the city. As for classes, it was a rough adjustment from school in the US, but my TEAN advisor was very helpful through every step. Although I didn't need to use my health insurance, it was nice to know it was there if needed.

My New Year’s resolution for myself in 2020 was to get out of my comfort zone. I nicknamed this year “my year of yes”. My one rule? If presented an opportunity, I would say yes. And that is exactly how my year started. Whether it was saying yes to a random spur of the moment road trip with my best friend or deciding to ski one day when I had never touched a pair of skis before in my life, my answer was always going to be a yes. But my favorite ‘yes’ was actually at the end of 2019 when I decided that 2020 would be the year I would go abroad. I remember going straight to my university’s study abroad office the moment I got this idea in my head. I took all the brochures and made a list ranking them in order. After many hours and lots of research I had “narrowed” my list down to Galway, London, and well, all of Australia. So what did I do? I flipped a coin, and what the coin said I did. I spent the first week of February packing up my life into two big suitcases and saying my goodbyes to my friends and family. When the morning of February 10th came I was nervous, yet overwhelmed with excitement. I hugged my dad goodbye at the airport and walked towards my gate with my freshly issued passport in hand. I boarded the plane and waited patiently for the flight to take off while I tried to wrap my head around the fact that in just 53 hours I would be stepping foot into Australia for the first time. From the moment that I landed at the Cairns Airport, my TEAN family was there to make my experience the absolute best that they could. I remember my mentor Melissa waiting at the gate with a sign and as soon as I approached her she treated me like a long lost friend. Once the group had assembled we were shown to the coach bus which would take us to our hotel that we would be staying in for the following week. I sat in the window seat so that I could soak in all the views of my new temporary home. When we arrived at the hotel our TEAN guides did not waste any moments. We were welcomed with a massive buffet of fresh food that was located on the open deck floor of the building where we were able to catch a glimpse of our first Australian sunset. During my time in Cairns I did so much. Through TEAN we were given the opportunity to expand our culinary palettes and try traditional Australian foods like vegemite, kangaroo burgers and alligator ribs. Within the first few days that we spent with our TEAN mentors were given the chance to interact with the Australian wildlife at the zoo, snorkel around the barrier reef, and have a quiet beach day to soak in all the natural beauty around us. When that first adjustment week was up, we all boarded a plane again and headed to our final destinations. In my case, it was Perth, Australia or more specifically the University of Murdoch in Perth, Australia. I lived in the university housing during my time at Murdoch. Our dorm was a spacious 5 bed 2 bath apartment with a kitchen, living room and balcony. I was originally supposed to have 4 other roommates, but due to the Covid19 Pandemic travel bans I only ever met three of them. One girl was an Australian native and the other two girls were study abroad students from Dubai and India. After unpacking I decided to take a walk around the gigantic campus, which is how I met my group of friends. I met one girl from Germany, one girl from Amsterdam and one boy from India. Instantly we all became great friends. The girl from Amsterdam, Kim, did not live on campus. Instead she was residing with a host family. Kim and I became inseparable over the first week and her host family took me under their wing as well. We would have family movie nights with Australian snacks that we had never tried before, picnic dinners on the beach to watch the famous Perth sunsets over the water, and sometimes they would take us to the weekend food truck markets in Fremantle to try more special Australian delicacies. I enrolled in a variety of classes at Murdoch. I took an Australian criminal justice course, an ecotourism course, a psychology course, and a film history course. The ecotourism course was by far my favorite because we were never in the classroom. Instead we were constantly going on field trips to different places to experience ecotourism. The most memorable trip we went on was when we took a trip to Penguin Island. Penguin Island was a small island off the mainland where penguins were taken to help become rehabilitated. We saw tons of penguins around the island, sea lions perched up on the sand banks along the coast, and dolphins swimming alongside our ferry. In between classes students would try to be outside as much as possible. Many would sunbathe in the courtyard, play volleyball or go surfing if they had worn their bathing suits to class. Kim and I often would sit in the big red and black bean bags in the courtyard and do our readings for class together. When we had longer breaks we would grab food from the market and have a picnic on the beach that was only one bus ride away from campus. As more talk of the Covid 19 pandemic whirled around campus, our TEAN mentors checked in on us more and more. A lot of the study abroad students were choosing to go back home to their countries. I was scared of the unknown, but I wanted to experience as much as I could before it was too late. I enrolled in surfing lessons, I planned a day trip to Rottnest Island, and I planned a camping trip to go sandboarding in the outback. Unfortunately the COVID-19 restrictions started to have an effect on Australia faster than I thought. I was able to surf one time and go on my trip to see the Quokkas that lived on Rottnest island. However my trip to the outback never happened. Australia soon imposed domestic travel restrictions between the different states. When talk spread of travel restrictions between countries along with news of what was happening in other countries, there was a lot of worry for the safety of the study abroad students and the issues concerning our travel visas. It was at that time when many study abroad organizations started to pull their programs from the school and send their students home. TEAN held out on pulling their students for as long as they could, which I am truly grateful for, but eventually they had to do what was in the best interest and safety of us students. TEANs emergency evacuation system was seamless. They were in touch with each of us and helped us arrange emergency flights back home, they helped us with any transportation needs, and program/housing refunds to ensure we had the financial resources to get back home. Altogether I was in Australia for about one month before I had to move back to the pandemic dystopian that was my home. I was able to finish all my courses online and stayed in touch with all of my new friends. Even though my time with TEAN was cut short, I am forever grateful to them for the opportunities they had presented me with. Through them I was given opportunities and experiences that I would have never had otherwise. TEAN truly cares about the learning experiences of their students and always puts their students' safety and needs above everything else. And again to them I am ever so grateful.

I had such a good experience abroad. I am pretty sure everyone says that, but it was a big life changing moment for me. It opened up my eyes to the world and to myself. It really made me get a different perspective on situations and I feel as if I am living a better and healthier lifestyle because of it.