UQ Program: Bachelor of Arts/Journalism
I’m in my final year of a Bachelor of Journalism/Bachelor of Arts and knew this was my last opportunity to go on exchange. Having longed to go for so many years I knew I had to take the plunge and organise it. Despite the mountains of paperwork, plethora of emails, visas and then the waiting, it was worth it. I cannot say enough about the experience I’ve had on exchange in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Perfectly located in a land lock between France, Italy, and Germany, Switzerland is immaculately situated. I touched down to a snow covered Geneva showing -8 degrees Celsius on the thermostat and departed on a perfectly sunny 30 degree day. I was able to experience the kaleidoscope of seasons. Lausanne is a quaint city surrounded by the Swiss and French Alps, vast fields and wineries, and beautiful lakes. I chose Switzerland for the culture, the landscape, the university program and the people. Be warned, it is one of the more expensive places to live. However the best things such as pain au chocolat, cheese, chocolate and wine are the more economical items to buy! The public transport system is flawless; they apologise for being two minutes late on the metro. 
I studied French as a foreign language at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). A full time load was 30 ETCS, which equated to five subjects for me. Taking all of my classes in French was daunting at first, but rewarding. While the Swiss tend to speak a little slower than the Parisians, it still sounded like a blur to start with, but gradually became normal! And at times there were moments of trepidation during assessment times, but that is the case anywhere. The courses I studied provided an interesting range of topics. One of my courses - Revue de Presse - included Swiss history, which was particular intriguing and provided me with a greater understanding of the country where I was residing. External to my course, I joined the tandem program that the uni has on offer. I highly recommend this for everyone going. It was an invaluable experience for me conversing in our maternal languages in a relaxed environment and for me I gained a valuable friendship. One of the greatest memories I’ll take with me are the friendships I formed whilst in Switzerland. I enrolled in the holiday course and the people that I met there were the friends that I stayed with throughout the entire semester.
Switzerland being located so close to so many countries makes it incredibly easy to travel. On Friday we would jump on the plane to a new exotic destination in Europe before heading back on Monday - just in time for class! Paris, Berlin, Italy, Prague, Dublin, Budapest, Copenhagen are a few of the enticing destinations I was able to explore. However, while it’s easy to travel to surrounding countries, I found one of the places I most loved was Switzerland with its plethora of changing landscapes, cultures and languages.
Doing this exchange has provided me with a lifetime of incredible memories. The experiences, friendships, and knowledge that I have gained from going to Switzerland are incredible and I could not recommend it more. You just have to do it and experience it for yourself to understand the feeling of exuberance it creates within you!