It’s unbelievable how big and small the world can feel simultaneously. Yesterday, from where I was standing on an Australian beach, I imagined zooming out via Google Maps to the rest of the world. In my imagination, I was a minuscule dot at a single moment in time. Yet everything around me during my time in Melbourne has felt consequential, from every moment shared with strangers to experiences that will soon become fond memories.
I already know that being an exchange student in Melbourne will be a changing point in my life. I’ve only been here for about a month and a half, and I’ve learned so much about who I am, including more about what I want from my future after university.
I was scared to move from Austin to Australia — a place I’d never been before — alone. At first I didn’t think I would be scared, but as the move drew closer, the idea of leaving became terrifying. Doubts such as “What if I don’t make friends?” and “What if I don’t like the place?” and countless others began to flood my mind.
It didn’t matter that I was well-traveled and extroverted. This experience was different. Moving to a new place, laying roots down all over again and building a life seemed daunting.
I knew I would be 8,000 miles away from home and starting school during the Australian winter while everyone back home was still on summer break. However, I’ve always heard the saying, “You learn the most about yourself in times of discomfort.” I came to Australia constantly repeating these words in my mind.
I arrived in Melbourne late on a Thursday evening and got dinner from a kebab shop on a bar street at 1 a.m. The next day, I fought jet lag and attended my orientation, where I was determined to make friends.
Immediately, I met some girls from Mexico who were friendly and spent the first half of the day with them. Then, I met two girls from the United Kingdom who introduced me to more people — and before I knew it, I connected with many others. All the exchange students were so keen to make friends that I felt silly for stressing about meeting new people.
We’d arrived a week before school started. During this week, the school hosted fairs to help us learn about student organizations on campus and social gatherings for students studying abroad. I signed up for the run, underwater, surf, and mountaineering clubs.
I remember thinking how cool it was to have so many unique outdoor activities just a stone’s throw from Melbourne. I also had quite a bit of social anxiety about attending the club meetings alone. Still, I made myself think about all the times something that was initially uncomfortable had ended up being amazing.
With that in mind, I went to the clubs alone and found genuine people with similar interests. In run club, I befriended a couple of truly wonderful people whom I now spend all my time with, exploring nature, going on long runs and learning more about who I want to be.
I spontaneously decided to go north to Queensland with some others, which was a true highlight of my exchange. We flew into the Gold Coast and saw everything from Byron Bay to Noosa. Though I only knew one person on the trip, I returned to Melbourne with seven new friends and memories I will treasure forever.
On our first day, we explored the jungle in Tambourine National Park, a dense rainforest I didn’t even know existed in Australia. We watched a sunset overlooking the mountains and vast landscape, which I was sure would be the prettiest sunset of the trip (though it was not). The next day, we went surfing and saw whales in the ocean, which was one of the most surreal experiences I’d ever had.
This was followed by a drive down to Byron Bay for sunset, where we saw dolphins and ran into the ocean because it was just too beautiful not to swim.
I also ended up teaching some of my friends how to surf. Watching people stand on their boards for the first time is such a special moment that I’m glad to have shared with my new friends. Then, we drove all the way from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast to Noosa Heads.
Coming back to Melbourne after this trip, I realized that I would rather live in a place filled to the brim with nature instead of a big, bustling city, which is what I had been planning for after graduating from The University of Texas at Austin.
Since then, I’ve gone on more trips to places such as the Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island, the Grampians and Dandenong National Park, just to name a few. Each trip has been with at least one stranger whom I befriended. Now, traveling with strangers brings me no anxiety whatsoever, and I quite enjoy putting myself in situations where I know nobody.
As much fun as it was constantly adventuring, I missed having a creative outlet in a like-minded community, so I signed up to volunteer at a community-run conservation center like I do back in Austin. Now, volunteering is one of the highlights of my week. Being with my community in nature for a couple of hours every Wednesday has been invaluable.
Circling back to lessons I’ve learned about myself: Studying abroad here has made it crystal-clear that I need to live in a place where I can give back to the community.
I also found a pottery studio where I can throw on the wheel for a couple of hours and decompress from the rush of the city and campus life.
It’s now week six, or the halfway point of the semester, and I never want to leave! I miss my friends and family back in Austin, but I feel like I’ve never been as grounded as I have been here.
I’ve learned much more about myself and what I want out of life in the future than I imagined I would already know during this program. Studying abroad has made me less scared of life after college and the discomfort of starting new chapters.
If there’s any advice I would give to prospective study abroad students, it is to embrace the discomfort of scary things because they truly teach you about yourself in ways you would never expect. Studying abroad prepares you for life after college in ways that can’t be taught in a classroom.
This post was contributed by Fiona MacGregor, a Global Ambassador for Fall 2024. Fiona is a senior advertising and public relations major studying abroad in Melbourne, Australia.
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