In three months from now I will be (hopefully) settled in my new home for the next 6 months, half way across the world in Australia. How crazy is that?!

I have always wanted to do study abroad as part of my degree and Cardiff University Global Opportunities department was one of the main reasons I picked to come to this uni. The opportunities are literally incredible and once-in-a-lifetime. Over the summer I went on a volunteering project in Fiji which I am hoping to detail further in an upcoming post. Fiji was however, beyond words and somewhere that I made close friends who all go to Cardiff as well which is a huge benefit to volunteering whilst at university. Having already experienced one global opportunity makes me even more excited for my next adventure “down under”.

The process of applying and sorting everything is, as you can imagine, pretty stressful however I have been fully supported by the university the whole way (despite not being all the way there yet!) Cardiff is renowned for its encouragement for students to “go global” and experience other cultures as it is not only great for character building but is great for future employment prospects. On top of this, I was given a bursary of £800 towards my Fiji trip which was essential (this will vary depending on a variety of factors including which programme you choose, so make sure you check with the Global Opportunities Centre first who will provide you with more information).  I probably wouldn’t have done it without it (welllll I probably still would have because it was THAT good)! Apart from Fiji, they offer study, work and volunteer programmes from around the world including Cambodia, Thailand, New Zealand and Canada just to name a few!

Surprisingly, I’m not as nervous as I thought I would be when faced with the prospect of studying in another country with no friends or family around me for 6 months. When speaking to other students who have studied abroad, they don’t have a bad word to say about it and all express their jealously of me being at the start of my journey. If you are someone that loves travelling or has a desire to do some travelling whilst at uni then I’m going to have to say that Cardiff University is the perfect option. There are not many unis in the UK that support you as fully as they do. My friends from home constantly tell me how jealous they are as their universities don’t offer the same kind of opportunities as Cardiff does (smiles smugly) which makes me so thankful that I picked to study here.

My advice to those of you who are interested in studying abroad but have a few reservations about doing so would be to just go for it. Opportunities like this don’t come around often and your time at uni is unbelievably short. It scares me to think that I’m pretty much halfway through my time in Cardiff University. You will not want to be one of those people that looks back in years to come when they’re working away thinking – “why didn’t I make the most of those opportunities and freedoms?!”

Okay I just realised I’m kind of preaching now but honestly GO FOR IT!

If anyone has any questions about Global Opportunities or my experiences abroad – whether that be application processes or questions about what I did then feel free to comment below.

For prospective students, find out about what Cardiff’s Global Opportunities has to offer here – https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/why-study-with-us/global-opportunities

In three months from now I will be (hopefully) settled in my new home for the next 6 months, half way across the world in Australia. How crazy is that?!

I have always wanted to do study abroad as part of my degree and Cardiff University Global Opportunities department was one of the main reasons I picked to come to this uni. The opportunities are literally incredible and once-in-a-lifetime. Over the summer I went on a volunteering project in Fiji which I am hoping to detail further in an upcoming post. Fiji was however, beyond words and somewhere that I made close friends who all go to Cardiff as well which is a huge benefit to volunteering whilst at university. Having already experienced one global opportunity makes me even more excited for my next adventure “down under”.

The process of applying and sorting everything is, as you can imagine, pretty stressful however I have been fully supported by the university the whole way (despite not being all the way there yet!) Cardiff is renowned for its encouragement for students to “go global” and experience other cultures as it is not only great for character building but is great for future employment prospects. On top of this, I was given a bursary of £800 towards my Fiji trip which was essential (this will vary depending on a variety of factors including which programme you choose, so make sure you check with the Global Opportunities Centre first who will provide you with more information).  I probably wouldn’t have done it without it (welllll I probably still would have because it was THAT good)! Apart from Fiji, they offer study, work and volunteer programmes from around the world including Cambodia, Thailand, New Zealand and Canada just to name a few!

Surprisingly, I’m not as nervous as I thought I would be when faced with the prospect of studying in another country with no friends or family around me for 6 months. When speaking to other students who have studied abroad, they don’t have a bad word to say about it and all express their jealously of me being at the start of my journey. If you are someone that loves travelling or has a desire to do some travelling whilst at uni then I’m going to have to say that Cardiff University is the perfect option. There are not many unis in the UK that support you as fully as they do. My friends from home constantly tell me how jealous they are as their universities don’t offer the same kind of opportunities as Cardiff does (smiles smugly) which makes me so thankful that I picked to study here.

My advice to those of you who are interested in studying abroad but have a few reservations about doing so would be to just go for it. Opportunities like this don’t come around often and your time at uni is unbelievably short. It scares me to think that I’m pretty much halfway through my time in Cardiff University. You will not want to be one of those people that looks back in years to come when they’re working away thinking – “why didn’t I make the most of those opportunities and freedoms?!”

Okay I just realised I’m kind of preaching now but honestly GO FOR IT!

If anyone has any questions about Global Opportunities or my experiences abroad – whether that be application processes or questions about what I did then feel free to comment below.

For prospective students, find out about what Cardiff’s Global Opportunities has to offer here – https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/why-study-with-us/global-opportunities