University of Auckland
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The year of two summers…
Emily Barnes // University of Auckland One main advantage of studying abroad in New Zealand or Australia is that by starting the semester in July, you’re finished by early November and get to enjoy a four month summer break. This is made even sweeter by the fact that it’s cold, wet and wintry back home and everyone is still at uni, stuck revising for exams. Having said that, I have revised for and sat three separate exam seasons this year, so I think my rest is well earned. The last half of this semester was pretty hectic, finishing all my coursework, revising for exams and saying goodbye to all my…
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Mid-semester adventures and dealing with homesickness…
Emily Barnes // University of Auckland I’m now well in to the second half of the semester here at Auckland which is strange as all my friends back in Manchester have only just started. And to be honest, whilst I have been having an amazing time here, it has made me feel a little homesick, hearing about everyone back home reuniting after summer and doing things together whilst I’m here on the other side of the world stuck writing essays and lab reports. Over the summer it was easy to push life back at Manchester to the side as I was out here having an adventure whilst they were all…
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First few weeks in New Zealand….
Emily Barnes // University of Auckland Despite only arriving in Auckland three weeks ago, it feels like I’ve been here and known everyone much longer. The flight over was long and after a small incident getting locked out of my accommodation at 2 am on a Sunday, I finally made it to my room after 26 hours of travelling. My first week here was spent exploring Auckland and making friends, dealing with the worst jet-lag of my life and trying not to cry over the ridiculous price of chocolate and pretty much any fruit/veg item that isn’t a kiwi fruit. Luckily, I had university starting back up the next week…
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Sad Goodbyes and a New Adventure
In three days time it will be exactly a month since I left the second home I had forged after a Semester in Auckland. I’m currently sat in Cairns (Australia) airport mulling over the last month and the highs and lows that come along with leaving your exchange city.
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Video Blog – The Positives and Negatives of Studying Abroad
Simon Hird / / Geography / / University of Auckland / / NZ So as part of year abroad we were asked to produce a series of blogs for Geography. Each had to be a on a different topic and in a variety of formats (i.e.referenced essay, diary entry, video). This particular video blog entry was reflecting on the positives and negatives that I have experienced on my year abroad – it is slightly more personal and geography related than my other posts, due to it’s initial purpose, but hopefully you guys can take something from it: Cheers, Simon 🤘 🖖 P.S. If you guys want to see a few more…
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New Zealand Highlight
My time in New Zealand is unfortunately coming to an end. I thought I’d do a quick blog before I leave Auckland, on my highlight of the semester. It’s difficult to choose just one, because my whole time here has been unbelievable, but if I had to pick one it would be doing the Abel Tasman Great Walk on the South Island. New Zealand offers 9 Great Walks, that are multiple day hikes. You walk and camp or stay in huts, passing diverse and spectacular scenery. Abel Tasman was a four day trek on the northern tip of South Island. I thought I’d give you a bit of an insight…
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10 things you should know about studying abroad in New Zealand
Simon Hird / / Geography / / University of Auckland / / NZ Hope you guys have all had an awesome year at Uni and are enjoying your summer holidays. I’ve just got a couple of weeks left of my year abroad at Auckland so I thought I would put together a collection of advice and some important things I think you should know about, if you are going to or are considering studying abroad in New Zealand. Some of these are specific to the University of Auckland, but I am sure there are parallels to other Universities in NZ and studying abroad in general.
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Work-Life Balance Abroad
Apart from getting to see the world and meeting amazing people, studying abroad throws you in at the deep end in terms of developing life skills. I thought I’d share my experience of trying to ground a good work-life balance while being in New Zealand. It definitely hasn’t been easy, but I’ve learnt a lot from my experience so far…
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Studying at the University of Auckland: what’s different?
Simon Hird / / Geography / / University of Auckland / / NZ I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate one blog post specifically to academics and the differences I have experienced between Auckland and Manchester. New Zealand and the UK definitely have many parallels and it didn’t take much time to adjust to a relatively similar style of life and study that they have here. But there are some distinct differences in how university works here compared to Manchester and the UK in general. One of the most resounding differences you will experience here is the way degrees are set up. Like many universities outside…
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A southern hemisphere summer
Simon Hird / / Geography / / University of Auckland / / NZ This summer has been pretty special. It’s been almost four months since the end of last semester but the time has absolutely flown by. It’s been a pretty full on summer and now that I am back in Auckland for the start of my next term, I thought it was time to write something down about it. I’ll try to keep it brief…
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NZ begins…
It’s been a bit of whirlwind since I set off for Auckland from Manchester on the 14th of Feb up until now. I can easily say that so far, it’s been an unforgettable experience.
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Academic Life at the University of Auckland
By Megan Turner, Geography, University of Auckland, New Zealand As an international student, the University of Auckland were very happy for me to take a range of courses from different subjects and faculties without any hassle. As well as geography courses, I was able to study In terms of course structure and assessment, Auckland is quite similar to Manchester, however there are some differences to look out for.
























