Australia: Bethy Havas

Program: Monash University Exchange, Spring

Majors: Psychology; Communication Arts

What is the moment you are most proud of?

One of the most rewarding experiences from my program was when I went on an expedition to one of the national parks in the area, Wilson’s Promontory National Park, for a day. I was raised around a big city, and my parents were never really inclined to do outdoor activities, so I was not very comfortable with being surrounded by nature. When I heard about the trip to the park, I figured I should take advantage of the opportunity. I didn’t fully know what to expect, and it felt like I was really pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I could not be more glad I decided to participate. The day in the park was filled with visiting the beach, exploring the terrain, and hiking a variety of trails to see different perspectives of the area. I fondly remember watching the sunset over the water from atop one of the big hikes, which was more beautiful than words can describe. Also, we were able to spot emus, kangaroos, wallabies, and wombats in their natural habitats! Overall, it was a wonderful way to see all the natural beauty that the continent holds. Even though I was apprehensive about being pushed out of my comfort zone, I’m very proud of my bravery in the experience.

How were your program academics similar or different from taking classes at UW-Madison?

One thing I found really interesting about the University is that they didn’t really hold in-person “lectures” like we do here at UW-Madison, the only real classes we had were more like discussion sections here at UW-Madison. Before each lesson, we had what was called “pre-work” which typically consisted of working through modules of recorded lectures, assigned readings, and/or short quizzes to test our knowledge. I would say this is where the majority of my information intake happened, through working through the content on my own. Then, for class instruction each week, we would have short lessons, presentations, or in-class activities to foster our knowledge in a more collaborative space, building upon the foundations we had set while completing our pre-work. The class sizes were typically smaller, similar to that of a high school classroom, so students were able to engage more deeply with our discussions. In one of my classes, “Hearing the Country: Studies in Indigenous Australian Ethnoecology”, our professor brought in different artifacts (maps, seashells, sculptures of animals, etc.) each week so that we could relate course topics to actual practices by Indigenous communities. I thought this was a super engaging learning opportunity and really deepened my knowledge of the course content. Also, I was able to take four classes in different subject areas (psychology, communication arts, linguistics, and Indigenous studies), somewhat similar to the amount and variety of classes you can take within a semester here at UW-Madison. I didn’t have big lectures to attend in my day-to-day, but the breadth of knowledge I was able to take in while on the program was very similar to that offered here at UW-Madison.

What challenges or barriers did you face as you prepared to go abroad and/or during your time abroad? How did you work through them?

One of the biggest barriers I ended up running into was with my cell phone plan and coverage. I had elected to set up an international plan with my provider here in the US, so I figured everything would be all set once I got to my program. Although, once I got there, I realized that the plan would cover WiFi and messaging, but there wasn’t enough cell line coverage for me to be able to make phone calls and the data coverage was very spotty without WiFi. This led to a couple issues with being able to be contacted (as my number was sometimes unreachable through calling), and almost made me regret not committing to an Australian plan. Also, because I didn’t have an Australian phone number, I couldn’t register for certain programs that required verification through an Australian phone number. Although, all of these issues were able to be resolved (normally, if I had emailed/texted anyone and explained my situation, they were very understanding and able to make accommodations that would work within the constraints.

Frankly, at times it was nice to be somewhat disconnected. While I could get in touch with anyone if I needed to through texting, I wasn’t consistently overwhelmed with notifications from apps when I was off of WiFi connection. It never caused major issues, but because of the more minuscule barriers it presented, I was able to experience and appreciate more of the world around me while on the program. Also, it should be mentioned that the time difference with the Melbourne and Wisconsin areas can be tricky to navigate – when I first arrived on the program, Wisconsin was behind 17 hours from Melbourne! This wasn’t too much of an issue, as some of the ~12 hour differences can present, but essentially for the entire workday in Wisconsin, it was the middle of the night for me in Melbourne. My enrollment time for classes for the next semester was at 4:00 a.m. my time! Once again, this was one of the situations that people were very understanding of, and most people were able to accommodate. There were definitely moments where I needed to move around meeting times, but everything was able to be worked out to be doable for both me in Melbourne and anyone in Wisconsin.

What did you learn about yourself or the world because of your experience?

While this is a bit of a stereotype about Australian culture, I found that many aspects of the experience and my time living there were very laid-back. I found that people were very accommodating to any issues I had when I was there and many situations operated with flexibility, not so much under the uptight or rigid structures we may have here. There were small details about my experience (like our official communication with our floor RAs being through a Facebook Messenger group chat, or the day of the football league finals being a statewide public holiday) that really exemplified the relaxed nature of many situations there. I learned from one of my classmates there that studies have shown that Australian people will play more into conversational jokes and sarcasm than their counterparts from here in the United States, and I definitely felt this in my interactions with locals. Each of these characteristics of Australian culture made for a really welcoming experience and I feel that they made for deeper connections with the people I interacted with on the daily. I think that this taught me that I really value authenticity in my interactions with others. I felt very at home shortly after arriving on my program, and I don’t doubt that this was (in part, at least) due to the open environment the culture lets foster. In situations since, I have felt myself wanting to be more genuine and open in my interactions with others, and I think the culture there made me see the true value in this approach. Studying abroad is a fantastic way to become immersed in the culture of another region of the world, and I’m very glad that I was able to experience Australian culture in such a remarkable way.