Personal Development
Form this experience I gained many friendships with people from all over the world and I was able to visit many of the local sights in and around BC as well as North America during my exchange. I feel like after this exchange, I grew as a person as I became more independent and more comfortable with travelling by myself and I also developed a cross-cultural mindset by being exposed to other exchange students from a range of backgrounds.
Professional Development
I feel that my future employability has been strengthened because I have expanded my network internationally while also further developing a cross-cultural and international mindset which is so valuable today.
Costs
For my budgeting, I saved $10,000 of my own money (excluding $3000) for the flights to and from Vancouver, with an additional $7800 coming from the OS-HELP loan and $2000 from the UQ Exchange grant. I would estimate that I spent around $20,000 on this exchange (excluding rent), however that was including all the travelling I did which included trips to The United States and other parts of Canada. I was also very lenient with my weekly budget, allocating $250 CAD weekly for eating out and groceries which I found was more than enough to live comfortably. Because I lived off campus in downtown, my accomodation was considerably more expensive than if I had stayed on campus, costing roughly $2000 CAD a month for a studio apartment. One thing I really enjoyed was that public transport in Vancouver is free for students (technically you pay a $180 one-time fee) which meant that I could travel around on bus or the SkyTrain to local attractions or to campus without having to reload my bus card like I would in Brisbane.
My advice for future students looking to exchange in UBC would be to be prepared to spend more than you are expecting as groceries in Vancouver are significantly more expensive than in Brisbane. Every week I probably spent $70-100 on groceries and a further $100 on eating out if I was on campus or if I couldn't be bothered to cook. Furthermore, you should consider how much travelling you want to do while you're over there, as this can determine how much you are spending overall. If you are content on staying in Vancouver for your exchange, you will spend much less than I did. However if you are unsure like I was, I recommend going with a couple thousand dollars extra, just so you have the flexibility of going on spontaneous trips with friends (e.g., my friends and I went to Los Angeles for a week in November to escape the cold).
Advice/Top Tips
The biggest pieces of advice I would give to students considering this experience would be to not underestimate the lifelong friendships and connections you can make over a semester. Additionally, don't limit yourself in terms of the places you can go to while you're over there. With careful planning you can effectively juggle classes and travelling, and especially for a place like North America which is so far away from Australia, its worth it to try and visit as many things as you can while you're over there, and even more so if you can meet friends who want to travel with you so that the cost of accomodation becomes cheaper and the experiences become more memorable.
Overall, I highly recommend the semester-based exchange. Its a good way to make friends from all over the world, and although it will hurt to come back home and see all the money you spent, it was well worth the experience and I would do it all over again.
