Written by Katelyn McNabb
Moving to university can be daunting, let alone moving to a new country!
Adjusting to life in Albury took a lot of time after moving from Christchurch, NZ. Walking to class in 30 degree heat every day at the start of the year was something I had never experienced.
Specifically, one of my favourite things about living in Australia is being able to walk around the campus and see heaps of kangaroos whenever I want!
This short activity can make a big difference in my day and automatically boost morale when needed.
Missing friends and family are completely normal feelings when moving to university.
Whether you have come from an hour away, or another country, everybody has times in which they feel homesick.
The most important thing I have found that helps is getting amongst the Charles Sturt events, as this is the best way to meet new people.
Despite finding new friends on campus, finding time after classes and other commitments to catch up with family and friends on the phone took a lot of planning with different schedules and time differences.
It was however, extremely important for my personal well-being to ensure I made time to catch up with them.
Overall, I was ready to embark on my new journey where I felt Charles Sturt University was the perfect choice.
With smaller campuses and class sizes, everyone always feels connected and it allowed me to grow within a community.
Especially when living so far from home, feeling part of a community and being able to live in a close-knit environment was the biggest blessing to minimise home-sickness.
Being in my second year already, I couldn’t imagine pursuing my dream of nursing anywhere else in the world.
Living on campus has made it easy to make friends along the way.
Being able to connect with individuals within my house, village and degree has opened endless opportunities to find similarities and build lifelong friendships.
Throughout the first few weeks we have had group trips to the weir, house dinners, group tennis sessions and more!
I have especially loved seeing people come down with us to have a hit at tennis despite having no prior tennis experience because at the end of the day it’s just about being involved and immersing yourself into new experiences to form friendships.
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