SUN Yintong

Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, China
Exchange to Griffith University, Australia

I am now in Denmark doing my Masters degree. I miss everything about Australia: the people, the food, the weather... The half year that I spent Down Under was definitely the best time of my life.

I have always wanted to study hotel and event management, but I never had the opportunity in China. I was told “to be realistic”, “to learn something which can help you get a job”... Things like that. So, I put aside my interest, the real thing that I have been passionate about.

But going on an exchange for one semester gave me another chance to rethink my choice. Learning what I wanted to learn at the best university in this field was great. Griffith offered a wonderful environment for studying. I liked the lectures, the team projects, the grading system, etc.

But going to lectures and learning from books were only a small part of my exchange life. I also had some opportunities to apply what I learned into practice. I served as a volunteer for the Gold Coast Show, which was the biggest local event. I will never forget that afternoon when other volunteers from different countries and I sat on the floor and listened to an 80-plus-year-old event manager telling us his life story. The sun shined on us. It was a great afternoon, which kind of changed the course of my life. I was set free from the traditional Chinese definition of success, and became surer about what I had been and will be looking for: freedom and happiness.

And thanks to the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards, I got to travel a lot. I left my footprints in New Zealand, Melbourne, Sydney, Whitsunday Island, Darwin, Alice Spring, etc. I got to see all the “3R”s of Australia, the Road (Great Ocean Road), the Reef (Great Barrier Reef), and the Rock (Ayers Rock). I met a lot of friends on the way, some of whom I am still in touch with even today, and gained plenty of different understandings of life.

Apart from being a precious experience, I think the exchange also played a role in helping me get into one of the top universities in the world to continue my Masters degree. And I believe it could also be a highlight on my CV in the future when I look for jobs.

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