Motivation
My motivation was to put myself in a new environment and being able to meet and connect with people from all around the world while also studying subjects that I normally would not be able to in UQ.
Personal Development
I truly think that the friendships, relationships and memories that I gained in my time abroad are the true treasure that I found on my exchange the USA. On top of the friends that I made, I found that the skills that I developed to be able to live on my own to be also very important in my personal development. Having never lived by myself before, I gained the ability to not only manage my time but also learned how to cook for myself and have a healthy sleep hygiene while cultivating my own social life. I can feel myself being much more confident with being able to talk to new people as well as being more ready to put myself into situations where I can learn and experience more.
Academic Development 
Academically, UCLA was very different to UQ. I gained the opportunity to take many courses which were not in my UQ major such as astronomy, zoology, and even a Japanese film course! These niche courses allowed for a broader scope to my academic schooling and were very interesting to me as a biomedical student. Even the biology courses that I took in UCLA differed to the ones back home. UCLA courses, I found, were very much based on research articles that are on the forefront of their respective fields and there was particular focus on the experimental methods and designs. This gave a different insight into the topics that we learned about and helped my understand certain things in a different light. Some challenges are being able to adjust to the very different grading system, like the pass mark for most classes being 73% instead of 50%. The workload in UCLA was much less than UQ if you are to do some first-year courses and I found time to travel to other places in the US even during the quarter.
Professional Development
I gained skills namely in research. Having to write many different reports and essays in topics such as neuroscience, and Japanese film I learned how to effectively read and analyze research articles to be able to synthesize original ideas to develop my academic career. Also being able to network with professors about opportunities and putting myself out there gave me the confidence to put towards my future endeavors.
Costs
Living in Los Angeles was incredibly expensive. Especially since the exchange rate between AUD and USD was very bad (1 AUD = 0.66 USD), the rent of 1000 USD per month was more like 1500 AUD. Overall the trip was more expensive than I expected but I was able to cut down on some of this by cooking for myself and choosing what to spend money on wisely. The entire trip cost me around 18000 AUD (9000 of this was rent) which was actually a bit lower than other people who went on exchange so if you are planning on coming, plan a bigger budget.
Accommodation
I lived off campus with a roommate in a dormitory and found it through the internet. I would say my living arrangements were great and since it was only a short walk to my classes, it was very conveniently located. If I could get advice, I would say that you should stay in the university apartments since they are both the same price as looking elsewhere and you are able to meet many people who also go to the same university. Some pros were being able to cook my own food to save money but learning to live in a place with many other people was definitely difficult at the start.
Highlights 
The highlights of the experience were the trips I was able to go on. I had the opportunity to go on an eight-day trip to Mexico as well as a road trip to Joshua Tree National Park. These were both beautiful in their own ways and I would never be able to have gone to these places if I did not go on exchange. Being able to go to these places with people that I had met on exchange it was truly a memory I will not forget.
Top Tips
I would say that going on exchange with an open mind is the most important. Having an open mind to take the opportunities that you are given, to meet new people and gain a worldly perspective.
