I can’t believe I am writing this after Spring Break. It feels as if this semester barely started a couple weeks ago, yet we have now officially passed the midpoint. This comes at shock especially to me. During the fall semester, I was on an exchange in Brisbane, Australia. Basically, this means I have already spent more than half of my time at UW this school year even though it has just been over eight weeks.
My semester in Australia is the most rewarding and valuable experience I have had in my life thus far. It is such an amazing experience to be able to remove yourself from your surroundings and be placed in an environment totally new. Being halfway across the globe from your friends and family is not only terrifying, but also incredibly eye-opening. I never knew I could be so independent and versatile. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I wasn’t able to permanently unpack my suitcases until after an entire month in Australia. I had a lot of trouble finding out where I was going to live. Fortunately, I found a family that welcomed me with open arms and truly got to experience the Aussie family lifestyle.
My exchange was through one of UW’s many partner institutions, meaning I still only paid UW tuition and fees rather than paying the university in Australia. This also meant my Hathaway Scholarship still covered my tuition costs in Australia! All of this couldn’t have been possible without the Beyond the Classroom grant provided by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The wonderful generosity of the College of Ag gave me one less thing to worry about: expensive travel costs. Though I had tuition covered, airfare to and from Australia isn’t cheap. Every little bit towards travel costs certainly helps. I couldn’t have had as awesome of an experience as I did without the generous help from the College of Ag and their Beyond the Classroom study abroad grant.
-Jacob Zumo