BUILDing Opportunities as an Exchange Student

When I first applied to UTS for one semester abroad, I was not prepared for the opportunities that would be open for me as an exchange student. During the orientation week, I got to know many programs where students could further develop their interests that are most important to them. The BUILD program particularly caught my attention because I always wanted to surround myself with like-minded people who also aspire a leadership position in their future career. In the first introduction session, I realized quickly that BUILD was the ideal place for me. I immediately felt the warm open minded and team-orientated energy in the room. However, I questioned myself at the time if I would be able to fully complete the program since I would only be in Australia for a short time and I didn’t know if studying here would be too challenging since English is not my first language. Nevertheless, I decided to take the risk.

One thing that was very helpful for me was the ability to schedule the workshops and events whenever I felt they would fit the best in between my study plans. I felt flexible during my studies which made the experience non-stressful and I enjoyed that I could participate also only in the activities that I was actually interested in.

After applying for BUILD the first step I took was completing my two selected mandatory core workshops. I must say, I really thought that these were going to be sessions where you had to sit your time through before you get in touch with the interesting events but I was so wrong. The workshops were interactive on such a high level that they provided a great opportunity to build and manifest long-lasting friendships which I will treasure forever. I also got the impression that the workshop speakers had a good idea of how to make them engaging and shared in general a lot of insightful knowledge.

After the workshops, I was able to choose a big variety of elective events. I have many different interests, especially in social community areas, that I want to develop which was my main reason to select activities in the area of media, sustainability, cultural identity and leadership mindset. With BUILD I had the awesome opportunity to take a deeper look into the sustainable measures of the university. At this day of the activity, I was able to visit campus areas that are usually not accessible for students on a regular basis. The guide was also very passionate about explaining to us the used sustainable methods. Another event had a huge impact on my worldview. One time there were guest speakers from different cultures present who shared their experiences and feelings about cultural belonging and the difficulties to fit in a new country. Being able to talk to those people helped me to gain an advanced awareness of my own cultural identity and understanding the importance of keeping it alive while adapting to another one. One other time I participated in a meetup where the Australian news ABC was present. They taught us how to detect fake news and what ethical aspects are needed to be considered before publishing an article. They also shared their email address to get in touch with them which gave me the opportunity to find even an internship in the future in Australia. The last event where I participated helped me to gain a more leader mindset. It was interesting discussing the topic with procrastinators like me who have ideas but don’t know where to start to realise them. Together we found some methods that made us feel more confident in being able to achieve our set goals.

All in all, I can just say that I enjoyed my journey with BUILD and I can only suggest to every abroad student who wants to take the opportunity in expanding their competencies in leadership or in important topic areas to join the program. There are many nice people in this community and you will have a great time where even unexpected opportunities in your future careers could arise.

Author: Isabell Kubelka
Exchange student from Germany