Study Abroad at the University of Auckland, NZ

I recommend studying at the University of Auckland, or anywhere else for that matter, to everyone. I had a marvelous experience in Auckland and learned so much, from my studies to the Māori culture. The people there are fantastic and I can truly say I've made forever friends there. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. I loved the school and the scenery and even managed to fit in bungy jumping during my semester abroad.

Auckland is an incredible school to do a semester abroad at; the school is fantastic and the surrounding area is lively and interesting. There is so much to see and do around the Auckland and North Island area, and traveling the South Island is one of the most amazing things to do in the world.

Attending the University of Auckland in New Zealand was one of the most transformative experiences of my life. It left me with a new sense of self-confidence and accomplishment, along with a lifetime of memories. My favorite memory is when my friends and I competed in the University's Waka Ama competition. We had no idea what we were in for, we were just on the search for our next adventure, and when we found this, we decided to go for it. Long story short, we go pulverized by the competition. We came in dead last, with a lag time of at least 20 minutes, but we laughed and all had a great time. Now, we have a funny story to reminisce about.

UoA is smack dab in the middle of Auckland city and just about a 5 minute walk from the main street (Queen street). I loved walking from campus, across the beautiful Albert park (where people would study in the grass or have their lunch), to the main part of the city.
They have many cute cafes in the city & a good variety of restaurants and shopping stores.
The academics were a bit hard since your grade is mainly dependent on your final exam and a mid term exam, but the professors I had were all very passionate about the subject and taught it well.
The diversity of students on campus is also vast and there are a lot of great clubs to join where you can make lasting memories. The international club was my favorite!
ALthough it's in the middle of the city, there are nice parks and hikes out the outskirts and 30+ min drives by cars.
Overall, I loved in at UoA and definitely want to travel back to Auckland sometime!

The study abroad program at the University of Auckland was overall a wonderful experience and one I would definitely recommend. There are certain things that can be improved, just like any other type of program. For example, though after orientation was complete, our smaller groups were intended to keep in touch, the leaders never did successfully. I did feel welcome by the overseas staff, but also had a feeling that they were not capable of helping me with some of my questions. They knew everything that is routine, and nothing outside of it. Auckland is the biggest city in NZ, yet I still felt completely safe there.

It was an amazing experience. As an international student it is easy to fit in and NZ is an incredible country to explore. Definitely take advantage of the two week semester break and see the south island. The university offers you a lot of support and opportunities to get involved.

My time in NZ was amazing. You need to remember that whatever program or place you go to that your experience is your experience alone. This sounds like a generic statement, but I felt myself straying from this idea when I first arrived in NZ. One of my best friends had done the same program in the same location (Auckland) a year previously and i realized i was subconsciously holding myself to all these standards, thinking I had to have as good of a time as she did...somehow this was translating into the idea that i had to have the same experience as her and therefore do things the way she did. There was only one problem that I seemed to keep running into with this plan...I wasn't her. I kept felt like I was failing in following her exact footsteps. Luckily it only took me a couple weeks to realize how flawed my expectations were....I finally realized- wait, you aren't her. You don't do things the way she does.... You see...back at our school at home, she's an athlete, runs with a big crew, is a social butterfly and finds comfort and safety in that big group- even if she doesn't know all of them that well. That's what she did in NZ too to some extent, so I heard (from her). But that's not how I do things at all...I usually have singular friends, and i get to know them really well and get really close with them. I feel like I have somewhere around 8 best friends. Most of my friends qualify as best friends...I don't have acquaintances as much. I share my time among them... Sometimes they end up being friends with each other, but i prefer being in small groups or even paired off with a different people each day..bouncing around between friends and getting different experiences from each of them. My friend operates very differently. So why should i expect myself to be like her here? The truth was that I thought that her way of doing things was going to be the only equation for success in NZ, when her equation didn't even fit into my kind of calculator. I threw these non-applicable standards out the window upon reminding myself that I'm my own person and would do things the way i do things, and that it would work out for me because I'm me. Boom. Try to make these kind of big ideas clear in your mind righ rafter you get there. The transition will be hard- moving in somewhere, not knowing where you are, navigating a foreign city, feeling alone, etc. But you will get through it all, I promise. Things won't seem so foreign and you will begin to adjust and feel more like yourself in this seemingly strange new place. If I, The Queen of Dysfunctional Transitions, did it (and succeeded nonetheless) you can too.

This kind of existential pondering aside, it was important for me to make friends with people outside of my culture. It wasn't that i didn't want to be friends with any Americans, but i needed to remember that i was in this melting pot of cultures- NZ brings all kinds of people from all different places to its beautiful shores and I needed to make use of that. I now have friends in Germany, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, France, New Zealand and more. It's so interesting to learn from different cultures and find your similarities and differences and feel united with someone so different from you, only to find out what similarities bring you together.

See as much as you can, but know that even if you can't see it all, what you DO see will be enough, if not more than you expected originally. I did an 11 day trip in the south island by camper van. Some people do 3 months in the South Island...I knew i wouldn't be able to see it all in 11 days, but what i did see was amazing, and something to be grateful for. Everything you miss will probably be amazing, but just as equally as amazing as the things you DO see. Be grateful, it's all good.

Be patient with yourself as well- it's okay to have relaxed lazy days in bed with netflix- even if you ARE in NZ. Sometimes i felt the pressure to always be doing something when I was there- some adventurous activity, or going somewhere new...but the truth is, you would burn yourself out if you met that expectation every day. You're still human, even if you are in NZ. You need to chill sometimes and reset, especially if you plan on soaking in and fully experiencing the places and things you do end up seeing. The best part of my trip was befriending a kiwi who could show me around. It's fun to explore with other foreigners who are fresh off the plane just like you, but having a native show you around to secret spots and immerse you in things is priceless. He has become one of my best friends and I know this trip and experience would not have been the same without him. Likewise, you bring things to them too and it's rewarding. He has expressed that without me he never would have been befriended so many people from other cultures and also expressed how cool it was to learn to truly appreciate his country through my discovery and appreciation of it. So go learn from a Kiwi and help them learn too! He's also the one who I rented a camper van with at the end of my stay for a trip around the South Island. It was his first time there too (even as a Kiwi) and he said he never would've done it without meeting me and says it's the best trip he's ever been on. That being said, the South Island is definitely a must do. A whole other world. Breathtaking. Your friends and family will think your photos from there are fake.

A final word of advice: Yes, the program is through the University of Auckland, but remember it's more about Auckland/NZ than university. I'm a top student at home, but when in NZ (if your grading situation allows) try to ease up on yourself academically. The classes and assignments are probably less challenging then what you are used to, so don't burn yourself out putting more work into things than you have to- you came to NZ to see NZ, not the UoA library. I was fortunate to not make this mistake and tried to beat it into my mind that "grades here don't matter" and "screw studying, I'm going to Coromandel for the weekend," but I saw several friends have trouble easing up on the academic efforts and I think their experience could've been better if they got out of the library a little more!

Have fun. Have an Open Mind. And take Pictures, but don't forget to put the camera down sometimes as well...the eyes are the original camera after all :)

At the University of Auckland where I spent one semester, I made many new friends and had an amazing experience. One story in particular comes to mind for this review, but I have countless others that could describe how incredible my time in New Zealand was. I am a biomedical engineering student at Penn State University, so when I was abroad I was required to take at least one engineering course. The one I chose was BIOMED 201, and on the first day of class I learned I was the only American in the class, surrounded by students who all seemed to know each other. On the first day of class, I arrived 5 minutes early, and the rest of the students arrived 5 minutes late, all together from the last class they had. It made me very aware that I as the outsider in this new community. Fast forward a few weeks to the BIOMED and ENGSCI (engineering science) department field trip. I was offered a place on the trip as I was technically in the program, and I wanted to experience the trip with the class. It was a 3 day trip to a town called Rotorua, and on the way we visited many biotech companies based in New Zealand. I arrived to the buses on the day of the trip a few minutes late, and was the very last one on the bus. In fact, I had to flag down the trip organizer who had no idea who I was, and stop the bus from leaving so I could hop on. I didn't know a single person on that bus and immediately felt this trip was a mistake. After an hour bus ride we made our first stop and I finally broke out of my shell and began to talk to some of the students. By the time we reached our hostel, I had many new friends and felt accepted into the group. After a night of drinking, pool, and story sharing, I had my first group of kiwi friends. By the end of the trip, I was close to a lot of the students and even learned about how biotech companies operate in New Zealand. The trip was both educational in a career sense, and helped me assimilate into the university culture. After the trip, I began spending more time with these students and truly felt apart of the University of Auckland. The students were very interested in American culture, and I was more than happy to share. My new friends helped me plan trips across New Zealand with their personal advice, and my travel buddies and I were able to see a lot of awesome places off the beaten path. If I were to ever return to Auckland or anywhere in New Zealand, I feel like I would have many contacts and friends to go see. This story reflects my experience at the University of Auckland as all of the students and faculty I interacted with were friendly and interested in what I had to say. This made my trip to New Zealand more immersive and truly a life-changing experience.