Class Year: 2025
Major/Minor: History/Educational Studies
Program: IFSA University of Queensland - Brisbane, Australia
Identities I can speak to students about:
Mental Health; Domestic and international travel during the semester; Australian university structure
Program specific experiences I can speak about:
I enrolled in a course at a local university
Favorite experience:
My favorite experience was traveling to Melbourne from Brisbane during mid-semester break, where I spent time with other international students I had met, new friends I made in Melbourne, and visiting historical landmarks and artwork I had learned about here at Gettysburg.
What course/internship experience during your global study semester allowed you to learn something new and exciting?
My visit to the Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney, New South Wales was my most unique educational experience. A UNESCO world heritage site, it was the location of British and Irish convicts sentenced to transportation to Australia, and later on a home for Irish immigrant women during the famine. It served as an interactive microcosm of Australian history.
How have your global studies related to one of the 7 Enduring Skills?
Creativity: My favorite hobby and biggest joy is my guitar playing. While I didn’t bring my instrument to Australia, within a week I found myself in a local music shop picking out a cheap guitar to keep practicing on. That was the guitar I brought camping to a wilderness island, where I played for my first audience. Later in the semester, I began playing live sets with a local musician I had befriended. Australia served as a place where my creativity thrived, supported by many genuine individuals, which has given me confidence to keep writing and playing music back home.