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What motivated you to participate in an overseas experience?

I loved travelling and I also love exploring other cultures. Seeing opportunities to go overseas and study, whether it be NCP (New Colombo Plan) or the Westpac Asian Exchange Scholarship, was always something I had my eye on. Then, when the opportunity came up to apply for the NCP Scholarship, I jumped at it because it was a funded means by which I could go overseas and travel. But honestly, even if I didn't get the NCP Scholarship, I would have found another way to go overseas (whether through working, another scholarship, OS-HELP loan, etc.). Overall, it was something that I always wanted to do.

Which study period did you go overseas in?

I actually went overseas ages ago, in Semester 2 2022. I kind of did my fourth year overseas over the course of 18 months. I had a semester exchange at Yonsei University in South Korea in Semester 2 2022, and a semester exchange at National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taiwan in Semester 2 2023. Then, I also had six months of language training in South Korea at Sogang University, which was not an exchange with the University of ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ but was a part of my NCP Scholarship.

Why did you choose National Taiwan University?

I chose NTU for a number of reasons. Firstly, I lived in Taiwan for a little bit growing up, as a really young kid, so I always wanted to go back there in a more professional setting now that I'm a bit older and can properly explore the culture.

So, I've had my eye on Taiwan as a place of interest that I've wanted to go to. Then, doing my research, I found out that NTU is a really prestigious university, both within Taiwan and also the wide Indo-Pacific region. My goals aligned with NTU, in the sense that it's a prestigious university that offered some interesting courses in Law that was also in a place that I wanted to go to.

On top of that, the cherry on the cake was that I found out some of my friends were going to study there at the same time as me, and so the opportunity to go overseas and study with my friends was something I just couldn't pass up. Everything came together and made it a perfect opportunity!

What are some of the benefits of going on exchange in the Indo-Pacific region?

I think that the Indo-Pacific region has so many opportunities for students, especially if you're going on exchange. It's home to some of Australia's largest trading partners and some of the world's leading tech firms. It's also a region that is growing massively economically. Therefore, it's a region that is not only important to Australia as a country but also to students who are future-minded and are looking to gain a competitive edge on their resume. It just offers so many benefits for your career, in that sense.

Also, it's a region that is culturally distinct from Australia, so it offers many chances to have these amazing cross-cultural exchanges and to learn so much more than you might when going to another region. So, I think it offers heaps of opportunities for students if they want to go study there!

I watched Korean dramas, and to a degree it represents what life is like there, but it's also so different. There are so many aspects to life in the Indo-Pacific region that you don't see represented in the media.

Really going there and immersing yourself in the culture helps to learn so many things that you can't learn being at home.

What additional opportunities were you able to receive by being a New Colombo Plan scholar?

The biggest opportunity is being part of the NCP network. What I mean by that is, prior to my exchange I went to Canberra for a Pre-Departure Training program, and through that I was able to meet my NCP cohort of around 120 students. In particular, I got to spend a bit of time with the 10 to 11 students who were going to South Korea with me at the same time. This opened me up to the huge network of amazing people who all had an interest in the Indo-Pacific region and going to study there. I became really good friends with these people; and some of them, particularly those going to South Korea, became my closest friends. These are friends that I still remain in contact with to this day. So, this is a huge advantage in that sense.

There are also other networking opportunities while you're in-country. For example, the chance to go to the Australian Embassy and meet the ambassador in South Korea was an amazing opportunity. So, I'd say that the networking is the biggest opportunity, besides the funding which enables the entire program of course!

I'd say another big opportunity is the flexibility offered by the scholarship. The scholarship is really flexible, so it give you the opportunity to tailor it to suit your own personal development goals. For me, that meant studying the Korean language for 6-months because that's what I really wanted to do, but for others it meant doing internships, like working at the UN, etc. The chance to craft your program to suit your o