Article by Erin Macdonald, a UNB Arts student who spent time at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, as part of UNB's Student Abroad Program.

Being an exchange student has changed me as a person as well as my outlook on life.  In order for us, as students, to learn I believe we have to see what’s really out there by doing it ourselves.  Being in Thailand opened my eyes to a different world, a different culture and a different way of life, not only in regards to school but through life experience too. I learned as much about myself as I did about Thailand and its people.  I had the opportunity to travel all across the country, teaching English to Thai children, scuba diving on shipwrecks and with sharks, riding elephants, travelling to neighbouring Cambodia to volunteer at orphanages and taking in the many more beautiful experiences. Along with my Thai friends, I also made friends from many countries including Germany, Holland, France, the US, China and even Canada, most of which I remain in close contact.  I believe travelling during school is never a mistake and the rewards are endless…I cannot wait to begin my next journey.

Article by Alex Campbell, a UNB Civil Engineering student who spent time at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, as part of UNB’s Student Abroad Program.

The four months I spent in Singapore were some of the most fun, interesting and rewarding of my university career. From the moment I got off the plane and stepped outside, I knew I was in for an adventure. Literally being on the opposite side of the globe, I felt like I was in another world entirely. The food was different (in a very, very good way), the people were different, the trees, the weather, the culture - you name it. At the beginning it was definitely a challenge; when you find yourself in a new environment and don’t know anybody, it takes some time to develop relationships and feel comfortable. But it is a great way to grow stronger mentally, and I learned a lot about myself those first few weeks. I ended up making friends from many places around the world, connections I will have for the rest of my life.

Singapore is a paragon of immaculate design, a feature that was particularly captivating for me as a student of Engineering. I enjoyed my classes, and I was even able to take some subjects that were not offered at UNB. There were many perks of going to school in a tropical climate. I wore shorts and a t-shirt to class all winter, and I often spent a good portion of the afternoon lazing under a coconut tree at the campus’ outdoor pool! Perhaps the greatest thing about this place, though, is its central location within Southeast Asia. Affordable airfares and the close proximity of many places in the region make weekend trips viable, and longer trips can be planned just days in advance. Looking back at it now I’m amazed at all the things I almost didn’t get to see, and all the great people I almost didn’t get to meet. If you’re contemplating studying abroad, do it. If you’re not, you should be

Article by Katriena McKay, a UNB Science student who studied at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia as part of UNB’s Student Abroad Program.

As I am heading into my last week here, I find that the thing that struck me most is how fast it went by. I know people always say that, but I seriously feel like I arrived here a couple days ago. I was surprised with how easy it was to meet people with whom you instantly become so close with. I have met some people here that have quickly become my best friends, and because of some of the adventures and experiences we’ve gone through together, I know they will stay that way for a long time. I was also very surprised to find how much nicer people are to you when you tell them you are from Canada… be proud of that!!! I have learned a lot about the Australian culture: what a Tim-Tam is, how to dig for a witchery grub in the outback and what it tasted like, how to drive on the other side of the road, the sarcastic aussie humor, what humidity REALLY feels like, and what words like “keen”, “heaps”. “singlet”, “oi”, “arvo”, “mate”, “dodgy”, “esky”, “lollies”, and “togs” mean, and even now use some of them on a daily basis. I have also learned a lot about myself, and surprisingly, learned how much I appreciate that I live in Canada: I really miss some of the things about it, and hear all the time from people how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful and wonderful place.

Because of its close location to the Great Barrier Reef and rainforests, James Cook gave me a chance to study hands-on parts of biology that I have only read about in textbooks, including seeing some famous Australian animals like kangaroos, koalas and wombats! I went on some incredible field trips. School is also a bit different here; there is a lot of paper and report writing instead of testing, so I had a lot of practice doing that.

I have grown a lot since coming here. I had to learn to be really independent, and had to step very far outside my comfort zone- but it was so worth it. I have made some lifelong friends, both other international students and Australian, have traveled over almost the entire country, and done some pretty incredible things. This whole experience has been like one big adventure, where along the way I have learned a lot about the kind of person I am and met some people with some incredible stories that made me look at parts of my life completely differently. Being here has made me proud to be Canadian- it’s incredible the huge smile that comes across people’s faces when you tell them you’re from Canada.

Article by Magda Piaseckka, a UNB Computer Science student who spent some time at St Etienne University in France, as part of UNB’s Student Abroad Program.

Every day that passes here in Saint Etienne, makes me feel more convinced that I made the right choice. I had a few doubts when I first applied for this exchange. First of all, I didn’t really speak french before last summer, I wasn’t sure which courses I will have credits transferred, because the program here is a little different from UNB, .. and generally I was a little worried about the school system here and how I will adapt to a new way of life….

Let me tell you that you have nothing to worry about. The first week here cleared up all my doubts with the help of the great people who work at UNB and the super nice French professors. When you decide to come here next year, I will have already cleared the way for all you future students by figuring out transfer credits, and course equivalents, so you will have very little to worry about.

To start off, I will talk a little bit about the school here. It is a very small school of only about 350 students. It is a very prestigious school well known throughout France as one of the best engineering schools. There are students here from all over France, as well as many students from all across Europe who came here on exchange just as myself. This will be a truly cultural experience, everyone you meet will have a fascinating story to tell, and different backgrounds they came from. It will work the other way as well.. New Brunswick and Fredericton will be a very exotic place for the people you talk to, so you can in turn share a little bit of your Canadian culture.

It will take you a little time at the beginning to get used to the school system here. It’s not at all harder…but just the way the classes are taught is a little bit different from the Canadian way. You start off your day in the morning, have 2 hours off for lunch, and continue throughout the afternoon. Expect to spend anywhere between 4 – 7 hours a day at school. It might be a little bit more than you’re used to, but it actually is not that bad once you get into a routine. Many times the classes are not lectures, but interactive labs or exercise sessions where you work in a group, so you don’t notice the time passing….and the best part is that since you do so much work at school….there’s not that much homework when you get back home. This leaves time for all the extracurricular stuff…there’s so much I don’t know what to put my hands on!

The city of Saint Etienne is absolutely gorgeous! It is located in the heart of a mountain chain, and a national park begins a 10 minute walk from the residence. I’ve been there many times hiking, rock climbing, white water rafting, and I even camped there for a weekend in October.

Now comes the best part – the description of my student experience wouldn’t be complete without describing the things I do out of classes. Since Ecole de Mines is such a small school, 340 out of the 350 students live together in one residence building. This equals = one big happy family! Since I have never lived in res before coming here, I don’t really know if it’s much different from the UNB residences, but here’s a short description to give you the feel for it.

Every student has their own single room with your very own shower, sink..even a small fridge (you can upgrade to a bigger room with a small kitchen complex and a separate bathroom if you want). There are communal kitchens at the end of every hall, where you really get to know your neighbours by cooking together. When it comes to entertainment, there’s a lot to do here. We have pool tables, table tennis, fussball, a squash court, an exercise room, a couple of pianos, an art room, a tv room, and out back 2 tennis courts, a small soccer field and a basketball court. And hey…you can’t go wrong with your very own bar which is run by students for students…and where BEvERages cost only 50cents a bottle.

Some other cool stuff that happened here:

…you can forget mystery bus tours of UNB – the one I was on here took us to Paris dropped us off for a couple of hours of sightseeing, followed by a Venetian style party till 5am, when the bus picked us up again to take us home.

And you can forget frosh week trips – the students here go for an integration trip into the alps, where they do all sorts of crazy stuff from rock climbing, to white water rafting, and camp out in tents for a week.

And you can forget visiting your parents for the weekend – (unfortunately…although I would like to do it..but it’s a little too far) – but instead, you can visit …another country! (I’ve been to England and Holland just last week, and unfortunately my trip to Switzerland didn’t work out for this weekend, so I had to settle for a French village in the alps http://photos.yahoo.com/piasekk2 ). I’m not even mentioning that Geneva is only 3 hours by train, and Italy , Spain , and the Mediterranean coast are reachable in about the time it would take to go to Halifax .

Summarizing my experience…the only thing I regret is not coming here earlier. I hope all of you will not let an opportunity like this pass you by…

Feel free to email me with any questions you may have, and I’ll be more than happy to answer them….
Magda Piasecka