What to Expect When You’re Expecting (to Study Abroad in Sydney for the Semester)
One of the big draws to coming to NYU is the fact that there are 15 campuses around the globe that students can take advantage of and study at throughout their four years. Being an MCC major makes it even more enticing to participate in the experience because the flexibility of our schedules allow for us to take a variety of different classes at a multitude of sights. While the most common site MCC students tends to be Prague due to their wide range of class selections, there are so many other sites that are worth exploring and for me, Sydney was the one (and no, it wasn’t because of my name).
Once I decided I was going to spend my Spring 2019 semester in Australia, there were so many questions that I had about what the experience would be like: How are MCC classes abroad? Can I intern? What are the dorms like? What do the travel opportunities look like in Australia? Will I meet new people? These were only some of the many questions that I had, and being that Sydney is not the most popular site for MCC, it was hard to find answers that fulfilled what I was specifically looking for. So throughout this post, my goal is to hopefully clarify some of the more specific questions that you may have as an MCC major who is interested in studying abroad, but also more specifically, coming to Sydney.
Dorm Life
Upon arriving in Sydney, the first thing you experience after touching down from your *long* flight is the dorm, Urbanest Quay Street Student Accommodation, which is where all NYU Sydney students are obligated to stay for the entire 4 months of the program. The dorms are very modern and the front desk staff are super friendly with any questions or concerns that you may have.
One of the best things about coming to Sydney and staying in Urbanest is the fact that all of the rooms are single bedrooms, each with their own bathrooms attached, and each of the rooms can be found within a 4-6 person suite that has a shared kitchen and common area. The bedrooms come with a towel, washcloth, and sheets for the bed, and the kitchen comes complete with an array of utensils, plates, cups, as well as a nice dishwasher and updated appliances. As far as meals goes, although there is no meal plan, the grocery store Woolworths is just a few steps away, and the dorm is located in the middle of Chinatown, so you are constantly surrounded by an array of great food options.
Urbanest is about a 30-35 minute walk away from NYU Sydney, which at first sounds daunting, but the walk is very straightforward. If you aren’t up for it, Urbanest is right next to the train station, which you can take to or from class. As far as suitemates go, mine were all randomly assigned but apart from the NYU community, Urbanest has several trips/outings and building activities that you can attend not only to meet your suitemates but also other people in the building. Overall, it is a really nice space in a really lively area, which has made the transition to being away from home a lot easier.
Classes
The first day of classes anywhere can be really scary, but it can seem especially intimidating here because all the professors are Australian, who potentially have a different teaching style than what you are used to. The classes are also 3 hours long, which can seem like a lot, but they are only once a week so it balances out in the end. Either way, prior to school starting there is a 3 day orientation week that takes place at NYU Sydney, which really helps you to get acclimated with the administrative staff, who are more than willing to help you with any and all academic concerns.
As far as MCC goes, there are 2 MCC courses that are offered here: Global Media Seminar, and Media and the Environment.
Global Media Seminar takes a look at the Australian Media landscape (newspapers, tv, radio, etc.) and how it plays into a larger global media conversation. The professor is absolutely wonderful and I find the class discussions to be super relevant and interesting. The class even includes a field trip to a live TV taping for a nationally syndicated TV show titled ‘Q&A’, which is taped right around the corner from Urbanest, and was truly one of the highlights of being here so far.
The Q&A live taping
Media in the Environment is a class about the ways new media (social media, online newspapers, etc.) have shaped our understanding of environmental issues and encouraged or discouraged environmental activism. The teacher is very friendly, and while I find this class to be less enticing than Global Media Seminar, I still find myself interested in the class discussions and find the topics very relevant to Australia.
In addition to the specific MCC classes here, there is also the Academic Internship Program, which is worth 4 credits and you can apply into at the same time as the study abroad application. Upon acceptance, you are automatically placed into an internship based on your designated career interests. This was of interest to me, and should be for a lot of other MCC students because it allows you to continue building both your professional skills and your resume while you are away from NYC. The Academic Internship Program requires you to intern at your arranged placement for at least 12 hours a week (I go in 2 days a week, 9am-5:30pm). In addition to the 12 hours, you are also required to attend an internship seminar class once every other week, where you discuss your goals and your progress throughout your internship with other students who are also interning at a bunch of different places. The program is really cool because it guarantees you an internship, and some great experience to take back to New York with you. I was lucky enough to be placed at a PR firm called Red Agency, and they do some really awesome work and are some of the friendliest people alive – a bonus.
A peek inside Red Agency (yes, that’s a slide)
Aside from the MCC classes and internships, there are a lot of other classes which can be found on the catalog online that not only fulfill CORE requirements, but are also very focused on Australian culture, including the Anthropology of Indigenous Australia, The Australian Experience, and Indigenous Australian Art. These classes can be a nice way to learn a little more context about the grounds that we are studying on and the people who we encounter everyday.
Social Scene
Socially, I found that Australia wasn’t that difficult to adjust to coming from New York because there are a lot of similarities between the cultures. However, there are some subtle differences that take a little bit of getting used to. For example, overall I find Australians to be much more relaxed and friendly. People don’t walk as fast on the streets (which is nice until you have 5 minutes to get to class and people are casually strolling), they wait for the stop lights to change to walk even if no cars are coming, and if you accidentally run into someone on the street, they will apologize-- it’s definitely something to get used to coming from New York.
As far as the dynamic between NYU Sydney students, there are under 100 of us so it’s almost impossible not to run into the same people over and over and inevitably make really good friends. It’s not at all uncommon to go to the beach every single day after class because it’s so accessible (and if you study in the Spring semester you’re here for the end of their summer). Also, with the drinking age being 18 years old, day and night life are a really big part of the culture here. Even at my internship, they have a fully stocked bar that’s accessible to all of the employees throughout the day! To me, Australian culture seems so much more about enjoying life and taking in everything that it has to offer, with much more of an emphasis on personal freedom rather than working non-stop. When you compare it to New York, it almost seems like day and night, but I think it’s nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city for a while and take some time to relax. At school or work, Australia always feels like a vacation.
Travel
And finally, often the most anticipated part of study abroad is getting to travel around and see things that you otherwise would’ve never had the opportunity to experience. Unlike all of the small European countries that are easy to hop around to, Australia is a massive and spread out island so getting around definitely requires some flights, but there are cheap options and quite a lot to see around the country and within the Sydney area. It’s also helpful that at NYU Sydney, classes are only in session Mon-Thurs, which means that every weekend is a 3 day weekend making it perfect for weekend getaways.
NYU offers a paid trip of some sort almost every single weekend, usually around Sydney on a Friday, and all of the trips are open to all students. Some of the trips so far have included the Australian Reptile Park, where we were able to pet kangaroos and koalas, the Blue
Coogee Beach. All of the events are not only really fun and a good way to get out and see things, but they also allow the opportunity to socialize outside of class with other students within the cohort.
Obviously there is more to Australia than Sydney. Some places students love to travel to are the Gold Coast, Melbourne, The Great Barrier Reef, and Uluru, to name a few. While most of these places are flights away, there is a discount flight company here called Jetstar which offers really good deals and has a flash sale every Friday afternoon where they have even more reduced prices. Australia and New Zealand both have really nice hostel accommodations, so if you budget right, you can definitely make your trips both nice and affordable. There are also cheap(er) flights to different parts of Asia due to its close proximity: Thailand, Bali, Singapore, New Zealand, and Fiji are all popular spring break destinations and through Jetstar and other local airlines, the prices aren’t too bad. There is a lot to see and little time to do it, but it makes for some exciting weekends and it’s really nice to have a balance between NYU trips and your own trips.
SO IN CONCLUSION…
There’s truly something for everyone in Sydney whether it be the beach, the mountains, or the city. More importantly there is definitely something here for MCC students and if you’re not sure about where you should go, don’t count Australia out! This country is absolutely beautiful and sometimes what we need most when we’re in the city is an escape from that fast paced lifestyle, and Sydney offers the perfect balance of relaxing without completely leaving behind everything for a semester. You never know, you could be missing out on the trip of a lifetime!
