Lius Ismantha SOEKAMTO

Student of University of Surabaya, Indonesia
Exchange to Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Being the first exchange student from my university to Australia was truly an honor to me. It was scary at first to know that I am all alone in this exchange program although the quota was actually for two people. However, thanks to Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards, it was hard to say no. My exchange experience was not as happy as you might think, but it was a lot happier!

During my study, I joined in a community called QUT2 and met a lot of people from Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, China, Swiss, Nepal, and many other countries. We gathered once a week and enjoyed quality time together. Near the end of my exchange program, I travelled around Australia with my Taiwanese and Indonesian friend. It was really fun to visit many new places such as Blue Mountains in Sydney, Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, or even an obscure café shop in Melbourne, which by the way serves the most delicious coffee I have ever tasted.

Australia taught me many things that I missed. I learned how to get used to almost anything, how to cook, how to ask for a help, how to empathise, and unexpectedly how to talk to people. Those things may not look important, but believe me, it changed the way I live. For example, before I came to Australia, I had never greeted anyone. On the second week I lived in Brisbane, my housemate told me to be friendly, or at least pretend to be. That was really shocking. Actually, I was known as a very friendly person in my university. I tried to open my communication and realised that I really need to change the way I live.

This unforgettable experience is one of many things that I am most proud of. For that reason, I personally would like to express my biggest gratitude to Cheung Kong Group and the Australian Government for supporting students like me in achieving one of my dreams. Thank you.

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