UQ Program: Bachelor of Science
My six month exchange at the National University of Singapore was a really wonderful experience. I studied three biomedical science courses and took Mandarin as an elective. The science courses that I took were very similar to classes back at UQ, so it was nice to have some familiarity in a completely new environment. Classes were interesting, the lecturers were all very friendly and approachable and all the students have a great attitude towards their studies. I had no trouble enrolling in courses, and I found that the online bidding system at NUS, where students must have enough points to be able to “bid” for the subjects they wanted was quite novel. Learning Mandarin was a lot of fun. I really recommend learning a new language when you visit a different country as it really enriches your experience there.
NUS is a really vibrant community and there are always lots of things going on. Most students join a CCA (Co-curricular Activity), and so I joined one too – the NUS Wushu club. I learnt a lot of cool kung fu moves and made a lot of amazing new friends, both local and international. In addition to Mandarin, I learnt a few words of Norwegian, Korean, Vietnamese and Malay from my new friends. Joining a CCA is a really great way to meet people.
Another bonus of being in Singapore is the close proximity to many other South East Asian countries. The highlight of my trip was visiting the beautiful tea plantations up in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia as well as enjoying the colourful Resorts World theme park in Genting. We were lucky to have some Malaysians travelling with us, as they knew all the best places to visit and the best food to try! Definitely travel with locals if you can. My exchange was really an experience I'll cherish for a long time!