Brayden's inter-campus studies experience

Brayden during his studies in Malaysia

My decision to do an exchange to Borneo was easily the best decision I’ve made in my life. I studied three of my core business units in Sarawak, but still had plenty of time off for travelling.

Handling different cultures took a while to get used to - especially in the classroom with different teaching - a more rote style of learning, with a very quiet classroom without much discussion like we are used to here in Australia. But there were so many great things about my exchange semester - Kuching has an extremely low cost of living, with cheap food and good quality, affordable accommodation.

I was with a great group of other exchange students from Australia and around the world who were always up for a meal, beer, activity or weekend trip. Kuching is a really good location for other travel around Asia (which I did most weekends), and the entire experience pretty much paid for itself with the OS HELP Loan!

To anyone thinking about whether they should take the plunge and go on an exchange I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I visited Laos for the Lao New Year (basically one big water fight all over the country), swam with whale sharks in the Philippines, went to Ultra Music Festival in Singapore, did many hikes around Sarawak seeing orangutans, big caves and amazing rainforest, surfed in Sri Lanka, went to Disneyland in Hong Kong and did many group trips to Kuala Lumpur.  

I’ve put my exchange on my resume and every single employer interviewing me asked lots of questions about it. I think it says a lot about a potential employee and that they are willing to get out of their comfort zone and try new things. Professional skills are important in any job, but personal skills like communication and adaptability are something all employers are looking for.