Blog Post 3: Mid Semester
Eight weeks into living in this amazing country, my views and perspectives on life and myself have evolved immensely. If Australia has taught me anything it’s that there is so much more to life than your current environment. As much as I love Rollins, and Florida in general, I got absorbed in a mindset that made me forget there was anything else to life other than the college lifestyle I had spent two years getting so accustomed to. What’s worse, I kept getting anxious about how my life was potentially at its peak, and whatever was to follow wouldn’t bring the same type of happiness. I couldn’t be more relieved that spending time in Australia has completely erased that ideology from my mind.
In just eight weeks here we have met some of the most incredible, genuine people. Living on campus has given me the foundation to be incorporated into the craziest funniest genuinely good group of friends. Our dorm organizes social events every few days, and while our school itself is alot bigger than Rollins, our dorm only has 250 people in it who are all extremely close- making the school almost feel smaller. I will cherish these people for life, and how they remind me of just how important it is to empathize with other cultures. Everyone here embraces worldly ideals, appreciates the country itself, the environment, the social experiences, and views life much differently than people back home do. It’s all so raw, so real and it’s authenticity is refreshing. People here value friendship and a good time so much more than designer brands and new cars. Not that everyone back home is like that, however it’s so nice to get away from it all completely for a few months. One of the best attributes of these people is how materialism has minimal effect on people’s personalities.
Newcastle itself is a beautiful beach city. After class I love to go to the beach (even though it is still technically winter). The town is full of some of the best restaurants and cafes that I have ever been to. My two best friends (also from Rollins) and I have even created an Australian food blog because we can’t get over the cuisine here.
Australia has reminded me that there is so so much more to the world than I will ever be able to fathom. But there is nothing more rejuvenating than embracing a new culture for a few months and getting to do a different style of life for a while. I’m keen for adventures long after I leave here, long after Rollins, long after it all- there will still be so much to see, and so many great people to meet and embrace.
