Throughout this program I have a few goals for myself I hope to accomplish academically, professionally, and personally. 

First and foremost, I really want to focus on connecting the material that I learn in my classes to the new experiences I will be having. Drawing these connections will not only make the content that I am learning more meaningful, but it will help me to be more aware of all the interactions I have in my daily life outside of the classroom. That is also how I plan to reach this goal, through being more deliberate in my experiences in and out of the classroom to help find more connections. Another academic goal I have which is related to the previous one is to supplement my learning outside of the classroom. One of the ways I can do this is through finding those connections between my new life and class content that my other goal is focused around. Another way I can supplement my learning outside of the classroom is engaging in meaningful conversations about topics I find myself particularly interested in with my professors outside of class time. 

The biggest personal goal I have is to really push myself outside of my comfort zone as much as possible and grow as a person. Moving abroad to a country I’ve never been to before that’s essentially as far away from home as I can possibly get in itself is outside of my comfort zone, but I want to really make the most of this and take advantage of all the opportunities a new culture has to offer. The best way I think I can do this is through exploring all parts of the culture and really getting out to see what this city has to offer. I believe that doing this will also help me become more culturally aware and allow me to appreciate not only Australian culture, but all of the other cultures that are found here in the diverse city of Sydney.  

Professionally, I think that there are a lot of hard skills that I can develop through living in a new country. The biggest one for me that I want to perfect is adaptability. Living in a new environment, things are going to be constantly changing as I learn more things and explore new places. I think that this is the perfect way to be able to work on my flexibility and making things work no matter the setting, and what better way to do this than simply to live in a new place.