I had dreamed about studying abroad in Australia since I was in high school; for some reason, I
\nhave always wanted to travel the globe and visit one of the farthest spots. When I applied, I
\nnaturally looked at the well-known places, Sydney, Melbourne, and decided on Sydney. I knew it
\nwould be a reach to get in, but I got my hopes up anyway and dreamed of living in the big city.<\/p>\n
So when the email arrived with the subject line, \u201cNot Accepted to Preferred Program\/Next
\nSteps,\u201d I was crushed. My initial reaction was disbelief, followed by disappointment. For a few
\ndays, I wondered whether studying abroad would even happen for me. I thought this might be a
\nsign to give up, that perhaps this experience wasn\u2019t meant to be. I felt like my dream had been
\ntaken away before it even started, and it was hard to imagine that there could be any silver
\nlining in the situation.<\/p>\n
I scrolled through the list of available programs, initially thinking about other far-off destinations
\nlike Greece or Peru. I wasn\u2019t particularly drawn to them, though, and then my eyes landed on
\nanother Australian option: Newcastle. Something about the name, the location, and the pictures
\nof the city and campus caught my attention. I saw the beautiful view of the Anzac Walk and knew
\nit would be the place for me. I also saw how close it was to Sydney, and thought if I didn\u2019t like I
\nwould just take the train to Sydney for weekends.<\/p>\n
When I first arrived in Sydney and then traveled to Newcastle, my initial impression was
\nunderwhelming. Newcastle was much smaller than Sydney, the streets weren\u2019t as nice, and it
\ndidn\u2019t have the city feel I had imagined. Once I arrived at campus, that all changed. The first
\nthing I noticed when I arrived to campus was the birds, I could see Cockatoos and Kookaburras
\neverywhere. I could also hear them, it was never quiet around. Suddenly, I was not just a visitor;
\nI was part of something new. Adapting to life in Newcastle had its challenges; I was constantly
\nasked where I was from and why I had chosen to study there – but I began to embrace the
\ndifferences and the curiosity that others had about me.<\/p>\n
Arriving on the city campus gave me a new view. While Newcastle was a much smaller city, I
\ngrew to appreciate it. It was easy to get around with public transport, and the city wasn\u2019t hard to
\nnavigate. Five weeks into my program, I moved from a studio apartment to a ten-person flat with
\nstudents from all over the world: Australia, France, Korea, and England. Living with such a
\nmixed group of roommates created a little family. We would have dinners together, game nights,
\nnight outs. I started to notice myself falling in love with Newcastle.
\nThe beaches were one of the main highlights of my abroad experiences. Newcastle has many
\nbeautiful beaches, such as Nobby\u2019s, Bar, Merewether, and Newcastle Beach, the coastline was
\nstunning. There are also many ocean baths, which are essentially giant pools filled with ocean
\nwater near the sea. These became my favorite to go with friends to tan, swim, hang out, or even
\nwatch the sunset.<\/p>\n
I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I played my first game of rugby(and had no clue
\nwhat I was doing the whole time, but had tons of fun!) I tried all different types of food, I travelled
\nall around Australia, and even went to Fiji! On our final night, my entire block gathered at
\nHickson Street Lookout for a goodbye dinner, and I was shocked by how much this place had
\ncome to mean to me.<\/p>\n
Looking back, I still can\u2019t believe that I was initially disappointed about not being accepted to
\nSydney. I ended up visiting Sydney only twice, and it honestly felt like enough. Newcastle had
\ngiven me so much more – the best friends, memories, experiences. My abroad experience truly
\nchanged everything and opened my eyes to the fact that the first choice isn\u2019t always the best
\nchoice, and life takes you where you are supposed to be. Sometimes the second choice might
\njust be the path your supposed to take, and I am grateful that its how the abroad experience
\nworked for me.<\/p>\n
Kendall Nelson<\/strong><\/p>\n Psychology Major<\/strong><\/p>\n Fall 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n Australia<\/strong><\/p>\n University of Newcastle<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I had dreamed about studying abroad in Australia since I was in high school; for some reason, I have always […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5509,"featured_media":1895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"custom_author_name":"Kendall Nelson","chapman_pin_hero_slider":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-abroad"],"yoast_head":"\n