Phillip Pinson: University of Colorado, Boulder
Why did you apply to participate in the study abroad/exchange program and why did you choose UOW over other universities?
I applied to study an exchange program for several reasons: To experience another culture, to get a different perspective of life (and other people’s lives), to find myself, get a better understanding of what people think about my culture, and finally take some time away from my uni since I felt it best to do before I spend one more year before I graduate.
I chose UOW mainly because of its location. Boulder (my uni’s city back at home), is a small town close to the state’s capital city of Denver. I am not much of a city person, so I felt that Wollongong would be simular to Boulder in its distance and size away from Sydney. I also chose UOW because I wanted to see and experience Australia, but also because of its good commerce dept. that I was told from my study abroad program.
Tell me something about Australia that you didn’t know before you arrived…
This might sound dumb, but I didn’t think the language and culture of English here was …well lets just say not American. What I mean by this was that I didn’t expect such a dominance of European culture implemented within the Australian culture. The vehicles and language are the two biggest examples that come across my head. Words such as “cheers” “Oi!” along with the small automobiles. Simple things that one wouldn’t expect coming to a nation where so much American culture exists as well (i.e. McDonalds, KFC, Chile’s and Target).
What were you concerned about prior to leaving home for your upcoming semester/year abroad at UOW?
Mainly the academics. This will be discussed more below, but I really was nervous about what I classes I would be able to take and what my home uni would approve. In terms of everything else, I was very eager and excited to get down here.
Before I left home bound for UOW, I never imagined that I…
I am being honest answering these questions… I thought there would be Kala’s in the trees, kangaroo’s hopping around campus along with crocodiles swimming around in the ponds. Steve Erwin does a good job at making Americans believe this.
Besides never imagining that I would not actually see these types of animals around here, I never thought that this term would fly by so quickly, that I would be able to meet so many Aussie’s, have the best time of my life, and already feel depressed about leaving a whole month before my plane even takes off.
How will studying at UOW benefit your degree and/or your overall university experience?
While I feel that my classes here will not benefit my degree to a great extent, experiencing the Australian culture along with so many other cultures from other international people I have met all over Australia, will greatly enhance my degree. Since I am a commerce finance major, my knowledge about other cultures, specifically business related as well, has expanded my knowledge more then I will ever know. I have such a better understanding of the world’s cultures just by coming here and listening to what other people have to say about anything. I will truly miss it here.
What was the best aspect of your time spent at UOW?
Getting to know the Aussie’s! Such good loving and fun people.
Your greatest challenge was…
In terms of culturally, I didn’t feel my culture shock level would be so high along with the length of time it took me to mostly get over it. Granted the majority of this came when I was in New Zealand prior to arriving in Australia, I didn’t think I would miss the states so much as I did. But this is pretty much over now, and I don’t want to go back!
Do you think this experience will change your approach to life at home?
Yes, and I really mean that in a big way. I guess I won’t really know for sure how big until I get back home, but just thinking about leaving here is making me depressed.
Do you have any advice for future students?
Don’t ever let anyone not let you leave your country to experience another’s, even if it’s your parents. Do whatever you can to leave. Whether that be financially, academically or just pushing yourself to fill out all the paper work, make it happen. Just before leaving the states, I asked myself if all the paperwork and time I took to study abroad was really worth it. And while past study abroad students told me yes, I still questioned them. But now that I know what you will experience, DO IT!
Any further comments you would like to add?
I just want to say thank you for the job you guys did. Carly came all the way to Boulder, Colorado to tell us about Wollongong and which I really appreciated. While I didn’t have the best of luck picking my classes and enjoying them, this was just a minor thorn to how much I enjoyed being here in Australia, in Wollongong and attending UOW. Thank you very much! I will truly miss this place and can speak for many of my friends who are also leaving this term.
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