Back from Australia

Lisa Migliorisi, Class of 2014, shares her final blog entry after returning from a month-long study abroad program in Geelong, Australia.

I love to travel. This program allowed me to experience a new place, with different people and customs. Most of my learning happened outside the classroom. Our constant planned and spontaneous field trips led us to nice and exciting places. The class itself taught us facts, but the experiences were much more exciting. My visits to Sydney, Melbourne, The Great Ocean Road, and Cairns were especially exciting.  I was able to experience all types of Australia – from cities, to mountains, to beaches, and of the course the world famous Great Barrier Reef.



Sunset over the Sydney Opera House



Wildlife of Australia

The country itself was beautiful and intriguing, but it became especially exciting because of the people I met. At CSI it is sometimes hard to make friends because it is not the type of school that people “hang out” at. But my apartment complex led me to friendships with some very special people. Since we spent the majority of time together, it was very sad when we had to leave. We all became such good friends that my trip may not have been as exciting without them. It was great to have them around so that I wasn’t constantly lonely. Being away from my family and friends was more tolerable because I had developed a family of my own.

Our usual stroll to school

The class I took taught me about many aspects of Australia. Aside from the usual history and politics, I learned about their homes – how the layout signifies the type of people living there: families, singles, college students. I was especially interested in Australian film. I recently declared a minor in film and I was eager to learn about Australian films. I found that the majority of Australian films were geared toward the ANZAC legend. The ANZAC myth/legend is the idea that the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps were fearless, strong, men who embodied strong patriotism. The physical identity is ever-changing but they still symbolize the same things. For my final paper I opted to write about ANZAC portrayal in Australia films. I felt as though by watching these films I understood more about Australian attitude that I did by reading a textbook.

Class held outdoors in the beautiful courtyard of Deakin University

Overall I felt this trip taught me more than I can fully understand. Just being out there traveling makes me want to start planning my next trip!