Emma Auselius, Social Work Program, La Trobe University, Australia

My name is Emma Auselius and I studied my fourth semester, second year social work program at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Ever since I started my studies at HHJ I knew I wanted to do a semester aboard. I never knew where I wanted to go. I thought about going to Australia, Canada or South Africa. I knew that I wanted to go to an English speaking country. I have travelled a lot before but never been in Australia so when I got the opportunity to go there I couldn’t resist.

It was little complicated to come to Australia. We first had a contact person at La Trobe, but she got sick. So we had a few weeks without any contact person, which was hard. But we were 3 students from my class that all was going to La Trobe so we helped each other. When we finally got a new contact person, he helped us and answered all our questions. He was a really big help. It is good to know that you have to start with all the paperwork at time. Try to follow the timetable you get from the university. And be aware – it can take very long time to get the visa, so start as soon as you can. If there is any problem with all the paperwork, do not hesitate to contact me. Maybe I can try to help.

During my semester in Australia I took four courses: Discover Australia, Social Work Research A, Introduction to Diversity, Sociology of Relationships. The courses was good, but some topics had we already talked about back home in Sweden. But it was good to get it repeated and I felt like I could tell things from my point of view. To study in Australia was different. We had all four courses at the same time, all lectures were online and we had like a seminar each week in every course. To study all four courses at the same time was sometimes hard. We had several essays at the same time. But I’m happy I’ve done it and I’ve developed both my essay and English skills.

We were five girls from JU who decided to look for an apartment together in the city. It is also possible to apply for an apartment at the campus. But we wanted to live in the city (because the campus is 40 min away from the city) and to have our own place. If you like to live near other people, go partying or if you are travelling alone, campus is a great place to live. We had some friends who lived at the campus and they were satisfied. We found an apartment at Gumtree with two bedroom and an amazing view. Be aware that it can be expensive to live in Australia. But if you cook food and by prioritizing, it is possible to keep the costs down and maybe even travel while you are on the other side of the planet.

During the semester we had some time free from school so we went to Bali one week. If you want to travel more, there is time to do so. I went with one friend to New Zealand for one month. If you are in Australia, I really recommend going over to New Zealand. It is a beautiful country and a most see. I went back to Australia after New Zealand to meet up with my family. We travelled for 3 weeks on the east coast and also took a trip to the outback – Ayers Rock!

Australia is beautiful, it has a lot to offer and you can see and experience a lot without leaving the country. You have everything in Australia – rainforest, beaches, cities and the outback. Try to explore as much as you can! You will not regret it. So my tip to you – start saving money now so that you have the opportunity to travel around in Australia, and maybe also take a trip to New Zealand and Bali while you are on the other side of the planet. I can promise you that you will not regret anything.

If you have any questions you can contact me on my email: emma.auselius@telia.com