Since living in Newcastle, Australia for the last three months I have not experienced nearly as much cultural confrontation as I thought I would. However, I have come to notice the cultural differences are indeed there but being able to live and experience everyday life here has allowed me to notice them opposed to a…
Category: Australia: TEAN at Newcastle
Blog Post #2 – Mid Semester
I’ve actually been quite surprised that I haven’t experienced as much culture shock as I was expecting to while living in another country. Australia and America are alike in a lot of ways; I think that Australia also being a primarily English speaking country eased the transition quite a bit. Lately however, I am starting…
Australia: University of Newcastle
Growing up in Rhode Island, I had a very big family and a very full house. Four older brothers and one older sister left me being the youngest of six kids. Lucky enough, we all played sports or had our own after school activities which meant my mom was always on the move, driving us…
Pre-departure blog
With the exception of my very first semester at Rollins in the fall of 2019, it’s safe to say my experience thus far has been a bit unorthodox. For the past year and a half, I’ve been trying to get abroad. My hopes have been shot up and crushed a number of times due…
Pre-Abroad Blog
An aspect of U.S. culture that’s is interesting to me is the American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that if anyone works hard enough they will be able to obtain a comfortable and fulfilling life. It seems that we believe individuals have a lot of control over their environment and their life in…
Back to the U.S.
I can not help to feel frustrated with the crisis the world is facing right now. My semester was cut too short and we are all close to helpless in trying to rectify the situation. In my first post, I wrote about how I found that I did not have enough time to say goodbye…
A month into Newcastle
It has now been almost a month in Newcastle and while my first week in Cairns was magical and so many things from my bucket list were checked off, life in Newcastle has been something else. It’s crazy to look back at my notes I wrote to myself in the first few days being here…
Pre Departure – Newcastle, Australia
I am a few days away from arriving to my next adventure. With each passing day here in my hometown of Orlando, I have come to realize that in reality there is not enough time in each day. I have tried to relish each moment with my friends and family while still preparing everything I…
Finally Home and I Know Less than I Did Before
Now that my abroad experience has come to an end, I can undoubtedly say that personal identities have an impact on how one experiences the world. In my pre-departure blog post, I assumed that this was the case, but I had no idea to what extent this was true and in with facets of life…
A Lesson Learned
Tough things happen. Sometimes they are out of your control, sometimes you only have yourself to blame. Regardless of the circumstance, crummy life events are a recurring test of intrinsic morale. That is something I have always struggled with, having trouble not finding self-blame in situations outside of my control. This is to say that,…