UMass: Reflections..

I’ve now only got three more days at UMass, and thought I would reflect on the time I’ve had here. I have had an amazing semester abroad, with many up’s and down’s, but it’s mostly the up’s that count. I think that exchange is what you make of it; the people who put themselves out there and go for every opportunity are the ones who have the most fun. I think you have to focus on the good, and let the bad fade away. If you focus on what you’re missing out on at home, you won’t be able to see the incredible things that are right in front of you.

The best part of this exchange, by far, is all the awesome people I’ve met. Allie, the girl who lives in the room next to me, is like a long lost twin. I’ve never had a friend who understands me so well, and shares my weird sense of humour. I couldn’t be more glad that she ended up being next door to me, and I couldn’t be more grateful for all she’s done for me: taking me home for Thanksgiving, road tripping aimlessly to cheer me up, helping me to understand all things American, and most of all just keeping a smile on my face. The other girls in my suite have also been amazing fun, and various people from down/across the hall. Seb, the nicest kid on the 7^th floor, is just a huge sweetheart who I wanna take home to Australia with me. I also met a looovely bunch of British girls. They were almost the very first people I met at UMass, and somehow have remained some of my closest friends. Then there’s the Germans, who keep me entertained to no end. There’s Karsten, who regularly tries to speak German to me & tells everything so honestly that I often just don’t know what to respond. Julienne, who is one of the most genuine & caring people in the world, always up for a bit of fun. Sea-Bass and Flo-Rida, the funniest physicists to ever come out of Germany. Dirk, absolutely one of a kind; always thoughtful, funny and random. Jakob, who just makes me laugh. Other randoms: Mr Lee, who works at the dining hall, learnt my and Allie’s name and chats to us every time we go in; Joe and Yvonne and Emily, all incredibly fun; all the boys who live in 609, my favourite place to hang in the middle of the night; Becca and Anna who I sadly only met towards the very end of the semester (Quebec) but who are incredible fun. My friends are my favourite part of UMass, and definitely what I will miss the most.

I’ve also enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had to travel while I’ve been here: Boston, New York, Montréal and Quebec. It’s amazing to be able to see all these places while studying. 

The actual studying I haven’t really enjoyed much- it made me miss my classes at Deakin, which is something I thought I’d never say! UMass doesn’t have much of an Education department, and everyone pretty much takes Education classes cos they know they’re easy. So it was all a bit of a joke, I’ve been getting straight A’s without doing too much work. Sounds perfect, right? But it just gets really really boring. There’s a lot of work but it’s so easy. You rarely have to reference anything; it’s just your opinion! On the up side, it meant I didn’t have to spend too much time focusing on study, instead I could go out, travel a bit, and generally make the most of my time here.

One of the things I love to do here is go to the hockey. Ice hockey is now officially my second favourite sport to watch, AFL being first. The hockey games are SO much fun. UMass has a pretty good team, which helps. Everyone gets so into it all- I’ve learnt lots of cheers. Though, it is actually more common to shout slander than cheers of support. For example, whenever UMass scores everyone chants “heee-ey, you suck” at the opposing team. Real good sportsmanship, eh? Football and basketball were fun too, but hockey is definitely the best.

Overall I’m incredibly glad that I applied for this program, and that I worked my butt of to save enough money to make it all worthwhile. I’m relieved that I’ve not (yet) had to miss out on anything due to financial circumstances. If I’m gonna do something, I wanna go all out! And that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve done everything I could have possibly done; no regrets. In a few days I have to say goodbye to UMass, and all the incredible friends I have here, which makes me undeniably sad. However, I’ve still got two months of traveling to look forward to! Europe and Asia, here I come!!!