Antje
Germany
Institution attended in home country: Phillips University, Hamburg
Institution attended in Australia: Charles Darwin University
After
visiting Australia on a working holiday, Antje made inquiries at her
university in Hamburg, Germany, about its exchange programs in
Australia.
“Having been in Australia on a work and travel visa before, I was very impressed by the cultural diversity of this place.”Antje
chose to continue her arts degree in the Northern Territory. “Darwin,
being the door to Asia and home to various Indigenous cultures, is the
perfect place to learn abroad,” she says.
Antje has stayed with a
local family in Darwin and her university has also made her feel at
home. “I had the best support from the International Office. I had been
in frequent contact [with staff] while still in Germany and, from the
day of arrival, this enormous support continued.”
Antje found studying in Australia a rewarding cultural experience, but it also broadened her ideas about university learning.
“The
study experience is completely different in Australia,” she says. “I
learned to be more flexible in my thinking and in the way I study. It is
a place of great opportunities. The educational and social structures
are not as rigid as in my country. It is a place where you can make
ideas come true.”
Although many things about education in
Australia are different, Antje will return home with full credit for her
studies and, she says, with an added advantage in the employment
market.
Antje has some advice for those who intend to follow her
to the Northern Territory: “I would recommend starting early enough
with the preparations (apply the year before) and to contact the
international offices of Australian universities as they are very
helpful and friendly.