Hello, or shall I say “G’day!” My name is Gretchen Forbush, and I am three semesters deep into my computer science and mathematics studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. For my sophomore spring semester, however, you won’t find me running through the suburbs of Troy, NY, because I’m heading Down Under!
At RPI, very few students take advantage of the study abroad programs that are offered; this year, approximately thirty students out of around 6,000 total undergraduates are traveling abroad to various institutions. While this reality could be true for many reasons, I would attribute it to the mentality of many of the students at Rensselaer: get in, graduate, get out, ASAP.
One of the few luxuries that RPI offers is the ability to transfer most IB/AP credits. This, paired with a yearly tuition of almost $50,000, encourages many students to save money and graduate early, and studying abroad only serves as a threat to achieving these goals.
This is not to mention the newest impediment, a condition of my class and every class after mine, the Summer Arch. (Check out my friend Lucy Film’s video below to learn more about the Arch.)
Inheriting the mentality of most of my peers, I pushed study abroad to the back of my mind, focusing instead on taking any opportunities that could bring me closer to graduating and building the “perfect” resume. For the summer after my freshman year, this mindset led me to the position of “student orientation advisor” for RPI’s Office of the First-Year Experience.
I had many motivations for applying for this position, but above all, I hoped that it would teach me about certain offerings at RPI that might improve my college experience. Little did I know that a training presentation about one such offering would bring me halfway across the world to the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia in less than 6 months.
Applying for study abroad was an easy decision, once I received the “OK” from my parents and found the program with classes that fit my four-year course plan. But as soon as my application was accepted, I realized that I truly didn’t know what I was getting into, a common circumstance for me as a rather impulsive person.
Although I had been abroad during high school (Ireland April 2015 and France April 2016), these trips lasted only a week and were in the comfort of groups of my peers, including, in Ireland, my best friend, my mom. In Australia, it is just going to be me, for almost five months, almost a day away from anyone that I care about. And after the undeniably best semester that I have had at RPI, my departure is bittersweet to say the least.
But this is not to say that I am not excited for my next semester abroad; I have been bringing it up to almost everyone I talk to, including my dental hygienist, who happened to have some advice involving showering and spiders…
As a way to keep all of these people updated about my adventures, I have decided to start this blog and update it (hopefully) each Friday with a summary of the places, people, and things that I’m introduced to during my study in Sydney. I will update the Photos page more frequently with collections of the sights I see along the way, and the Fun Facts page will serve as a growing list of tidbits I learn about Australia and beyond throughout my journey. Finally, my contact information can be found on the Contact page, in case you want to send a message or even stop by!
So, ta-ta for now; it won’t be long before I’m back in the States, so take advantage of it while it lasts!
Gretchen