Alasdhair McBridge
Home Institution: University of Stirling, the United Kingdom
Area of Study at home: History
Program: Semester exchange Semester 2 2016 (July – December, 2016)

“Personally, I found the most rewarding part of the exchange to be the friendships that I formed. I never would have had the chance to meet any of the people I did if I hadn’t went on exchange. It was one of the best things I have done in my life. I have no regrets about going.”

 

Highlight
My end of semester trip around Australia. Over the course of two weeks, I visited Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

Any fears before going on exchange
Not really.

Orientation/Support at Flinders
The services offered by Flinders University made coming to live in Adelaide so much easier than it would have been otherwise. Being picked up from the airport was very convenient, especially after such a long flight. The tours offered by the University to various areas of the city where useful for getting to know the area, and for making friends.

Study Life
The academic workload was similar to that of my home university. Assignments and the course structure where near identical making the transition easier than I had expected.

Housing
On-campus housing. If you can afford the rent yes, it was very convenient to live on campus.

Money Matters

• Housing Cost
  AU$800-$1000 per month with self-catering facilities.

• Living Expenses
  After rent, I may be spent on average $50s a week. I spent much more initially to setting up, e.g.: buying textbooks and cookware.

• Did you work during your time in Australia?
  No

Lifestyle

• Typical Day
  Typically I would get up, prepare myself for the day, go to my classes, then go home for lunch, before returning to the library to study. In the evening, after making dinner, I would either meet friends or go for a run.

• Differences
  Being from Britain, there was not many major cultural differences between my home and Australia. Although, perhaps Australia is slightly more multicultural than the UK.

• Making friends
  It was easy to make friends. I met most of my friends through the tours provided by Flinders.

Challenges
The only difficulties I faced was budgeting as most things were far more expensive than in the UK. Also, it was difficult trying to get to grips with the insurance-based healthcare system, coming from a country where you never need to pay for treatment.

Advice to Students Thinking about Studying at Flinders University
The best thing you can do is to go to as many social events as you can. That gives you the best chance of making good friends.

• Read Alasdhair’s blog posts here, here and here
• Are you a student from one of our exchange partner institutions wishing to study at Flinders University on an exchange? Find out information here