Lydia Schneider

“There is a beautiful landscape around UQ, where you can relax and enjoy the good weather. In almost each building there are computers, on which you can work or write assignments. And it is fantastic to know that there are some areas which are open till midnight in case you have to check something or to finish writing something.

“There is library staff always available to help if you do not know something or if you have some questions. Also, the fact that you can borrow a laptop for presentations or for working on assignments is very useful.

“Studying at UQ is different in comparison with my home university. There were so many new things you get to know and for me personally I started to love studying although it sometimes was hard because of the language. But there were always students or people around me who helped me in difficult times. This help let me feel more and more comfortable and now I do not want to leave UQ or Australia.

“In my opinion the tutorials and practicals are really helpful. One reason is that the students work regularly and they are required to do something all the time. Participation in tutorials and practicals also helps the students not to get too stressed during the exam period. I also prefer mid-term exams in comparison with a final exam only at the end - this takes away the pressure at the end of a semester.

“One of the things I enjoyed about Australia is that the people are friendly and help you if they see that you are helpless or lost and try to help you find the right way to go or which train you have to catch to get home.

I would tell anybody who is planning to go to Australia that no matter how hard it is in the first few weeks, there are always people who help you. The studying is really interesting and students will enjoy it. They also have to go out, especially when they have the culture shock, to see that there are so many things to get to know about Australia.”