Part 2: Found
Volunteering – Feeling connected
In the summer of 2018, I became a Brisbane International Student Ambassador. This is when I started to volunteer and meet new friends from all over the world who shared similar challenges when studying overseas. Some of my volunteer work included helping out at the Brisbane Festival and Luminous Lantern Parade and going on a mini volunteering trip with QUT Big Lift to Blackbutt Avocado Festival. For the first time, I felt truly connected to the culture and people here. Finding a common ground such as working towards a good cause is certainly a great start to blend into a new culture.
Read more about my volunteering experience in my previous story about QUT Big Lift.
Social work – Understand why certain things happen
During my degree, the unexpected/most amazing thing I have done was choosing an elective in Social Work. Different if not the total opposite of my usual Business units. My studies in Social Work taught me many interesting things that I have never come across before. I felt very different when moving to a new country, a feeling I didn’t have in Vietnam. I got a better understanding of this transition when moving to Australia and now I can more appreciate how it is to be a foreigner in a new country and the stages you go through into adapting to this new situation. Brisbane is a very multicultural city and very welcoming. QUT has over 9000 students from 120 different countries and it was nice to see that there were many people in the same situation.
Thanks to the amazing teaching team and the widest range of learning resources at QUT, I have explored a new side of life and expanded my mind. Bonus, I’ve also made many new friends from around the globe.
Travelling – Exchange programs via QUT
“The best is yet to come”. My amazing experience at QUT was elevated by my exchange semester in Austria and the short-term programs I participated in India and Germany through QUT Global. No words can explain how much I’m missing my exchange time! Do you know: QUT offers up to $2,000 travel bursary for international students to travel abroad? Give me a reason not to go on exchange!
More stories of my exchange experiences could be found here:
Exercise – Social basketball
One thing I really liked about QUT was that there was not only a wide range of student clubs and societies to choose from, but QUT also provided weekly social gatherings for different sports. I played social basketball every Friday, met heaps of new friends on the court and learned a great deal of Mandarin too (basketball was so popular amongst the Chinese students, so it was a good chance to practice a foreign language!). After all, isn’t it true that “sports connects people”?
Thanks to QUT, my studying abroad experience has been extraordinary and I’ve definitely learned a lot for both my future career and life. From what I learned through university, I am now moving towards my professional career. In my next post, I would like to share about my internship experiences, tips to secure one as an international student and a glimpse of my future plan.
P.S Don’t forget to read Ha’s Part 1 of her Graduation story
