The biggest piece of advice for future international students is to challenge yourself socially.
Studying abroad is an opportunity to find out a lot about who you are, as well as meet some incredible people. Auckland accumulates people from all over America, Europe, Southern Africa, China, Korea, and the rest of the world. I felt like I got an insight into many cultures, not just New Zealand’s while studying here.
I had attempted and failed to study at the University of Auckland previously due to financial restrictions. When applying this time I told myself I would do whatever it took to find funding, so I scoured the resources my home university’s international office had and applied for all the scholarships I could find. I ended up receiving three different scholarships.
I was fortunate enough to travel quite a bit while studying in Auckland. I joined both the tramping and rock-climbing clubs at the university. These clubs provided me the ability to meet and befriend people with similar interests and hobbies. I did a couple of New Zealand’s ‘Great Walks’, and also travelled around both the North and South Islands.
During my spare time, I worked on becoming a better photographer, as well as spending countless hours working on my website. This was my last semester of college, and now that I have finished my goal is to promote sustainable lifestyles through photography and videography.
I hope that my website can inspire people to make socially, culturally, environmentally, and financially responsible decisions as well as provide entertainment through my artwork
Visit my website adaptography.com.