Samantha Bryn

Samantha's Education Abroad Experience

"I met many other international students studying abroad. I was able to experience living abroad for 5 months and did a lot of traveling (I was able to go to New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji). I took 3 courses: Climate Change, Marine Ecology, and Māori cultures. My most memorable moments abroad were getting to know my new friends and spending time exploring new places with them. I will cherish those memories forever.

I chose this program because I knew I wanted to go somewhere in Oceania (either NZ or Australia) and chose a program that had the courses I needed to take as a senior. I was very limited in what classes I still required in order to graduate, and the University of Waikato offered all of the courses I needed. The program was about the same price as what a regular semester at PSU would have been. I had a friend from high school who also studied abroad at UoW through her university, and she loved it. As someone who had a similar major as her, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Penn State also collaborated with UoW.

What surprised me most was how quickly I made friends through my program. As someone who studied abroad by themselves, I was unsure of the social aspect of being in a new country/new university. I am glad to say that I have made lifelong friendships with people from all over the world. I experienced a lot of firsts while abroad as well! My first time driving on the left side of the road, skiing, going on a train, and bungee jumping to name a few. I was also surprised that the long plane ride to New Zealand (17 hours) was not as bad as I expected!

This experience has allowed me to learn about other ecosystems and communities that I would not have gotten the chance to learn about otherwise. I believe this abroad experience has enhanced my passion for wildlife biology as well as traveling. I would recommend looking at available courses as early as possible, as well as working with departments to see which offered courses will transfer to the classes that you need here at Penn State. My advice would be to just say yes. Coming from someone who went alone, it can seem daunting and scary to travel so far away for so long. But it truly was worth every second. I wish I could go back and do it all again."