Caroline’s Future Unlimited

This week’s blog post comes to you from student ambassador Caroline, who has kindly agreed to share how studying in Australia has unleashed her Future Unlimited.

Two memories of my time in Australia take me back: 1. A bull shark and her young swim less than a foot away from me. 2. Riding the first wave all the way to shore at surf camp. Scuba diving with sharks and learning to surf are two of my favorite memories from my time studying abroad in Australia. They also happen to be two of the things I talked about in my graduate school interviews. I found that studying in Australia helped me discover more about myself and in turn, I was able to share my new discoveries with admissions committees.

Caroline braves her fears and swims with SHARKS!

Scuba diving with sharks was something I had always wanted to do, but it was also something that scared me quite a bit. Sharks are big and they’ve been known to bite. However, jumping in the shark infested water (under the supervision of trained professionals!) helped me conquer my fear and satisfy my curiosity. Graduate school in a health profession will be similar since I am a little nervous but I do crave the knowledge and understanding that it will present.

For me, graduate school is uncharted territory – something completely new. Learning to surf was a completely new experience as well. I had never managed to excel at any water sports and yet the thrill of standing up on a surf board on the first wave was exhilarating. I needed to prove that I could conquer

Aaaaalmost hanging ten. Almost.

new territory. In Australia, the new territory was a surf board but the experience translates into confidence. Confidence – in my ability to try and succeed at new things. New, uncharted territory – like graduate school.

While small talk in interviews may certainly have its place – understanding how to turn my Australian adventures into learning life lessons helped me obtain my goal of going to graduate school. It helped my future become unlimited.

Read more about what students who have studied in Australia have to say on our website here.

Countdown to the Olympics – Aussie style! (One week)

In honour of the upcoming Olympic Games, your favourite folks from the Embassy of Australia Education Team want to share some interesting tid-bits about some of minds and bodies driving one of our favourite Olympic teams – New Zealand! .. Just kidding, we wouldn’t do that to our friends down under.

So who are the contenders for the gold? First up is Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, where researchers collaborated with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Cycling Australia to study the aerodynamics of interactions among four Olympic cyclists. Since the university is home to the largest wind tunnel in the Southern Hemisphere, usually used to test aircrafts and automobiles, Monash proved to be the ideal partner for such an endeavour.

Using 65 kilometre per hour wind forces and blowing smoke over cyclists, researchers were able to identify equipment and body positions that would most likely help the team reach Olympic glory. Cycling star Jack Bobridge attested to how important research such as this is as races often come down to as little as a tenth of a second difference.

Want to claim your share of Olympic gold? Consider studying in Australia under the University of Monash’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and take the opportunity to learn from leading engineers such as the ones who conducted this ground-breaking study!