Student Videos and Testimonials

I chose to come to the University of Newcastle because I was really interested in the specialized chemistry courses that align with my research interests, the opportunity to experience a more relaxed urban campus, and to pursue my love of scuba diving and the ocean. The Newcastle campus is gorgeous. The nature is stunning and so different from what we have back in New Jersey. Last night I saw a wild possum, with a baby on its back, eating the Jack O'lantern on my balcony. My class schedule is great as well! I finish at 12pm on Mondays in the Newcastle City campus and then take the 7-minute trip to the beach for lunch. I feel completely comfortable here, despite having traveled here alone and the 15-hour time difference to my friends and family back home. Coming here has really solidified my confidence in my ability to make new friends wherever I go. This experience has also helped me reflect on my life back home and recognize what things I really miss and what things I could let go of. My best tip for students coming here on exchange is to bring with you a whole lot of snack food from your home country – it's a good idea to know where you're going to get your first meal after you arrive and sharing those snacks is a great way to introduce yourself to new friends while you're here. Also building off of that, I especially recommend befriending peers who have their own cars."

Della, Taylors University (Malaysia)

The best thing has been the environment, and the people, I like how chill it is here, the people are really relaxed. I feel really comfortable going anywhere in Newcastle.  Coming here I needed to adapt to a new environment, it has been a really good life lesson, learning a new culture, I got to see many new perspectives from the people I have met here. It has impacted how I see myself and where I see myself in the future."

I’ve really enjoyed being close to the beach, the coast here is so beautiful and swimming in the sea has been lovely. I’ve joined the tennis club and the International students society (UNESN). I love to travel, and I have found there are opportunities here in Australia that would allow me to pursue my career in sports media. I could potentially one day come back to live and work out here."

I enjoy the campus, it is really beautiful here, you have trees everywhere, you even have snakes. I love the beach; I really appreciate that I can wake up and go to uni and I’m in nature. We don’t have that back in France. I’ve learned to be more open minded, because I meet people from many different cultures here, I’ve learned a lot from the people, I have learned a lot about myself and how to network with people from other cultures."

The best thing has been my Aboriginal Studies course, it's so interesting and really rewarding. I’ve met people here from all over the world, I love the landscape, the beach, the city and access to nature. It's a very liveable city in terms of getting around and going out by yourself, it is very safe even at night. The campus is gorgeous, spread out with lots of relaxation spaces which is great at balancing the academic rigour. The structure of study is different here and it has helped me understand how I can learn better in my home country. For example, at home we have a lot of smaller assignments, but here there’s just one big one at the end of semester, and there's the risk of procrastination. So, I’ve had to learn better time management skills, and that is something I will take with me to improve my studies back home."

The people here are very inviting and welcoming, the locals have shown me around to the best bars, clubs, pubs, and restaurants with different cuisines. I have also enjoyed the weather, the amazing accents, meaningful conversations with other students and the food because all the locals put lots of love into what they make, and you can't find it just anywhere because it's not from a chain like they have back home. This experience has changed the way that I look at university as a whole, I have found an appreciation for bigger institutions because I was able to form greater connections with more people, like with my professors and students in the housing I am in. When I graduate, I want to be a physical therapist, I was able to study psychology here so that I can incorporate psychology into my physical therapy as that is very important back in America."