Study abroad means........

Study abroad means getting up every morning, thinking about what we are going to do and knowing we are in the fight of our life. It means listening to the beat of our hearts and being reminded that we try to do everything we can for brighter future.

Study abroad means carrying heavy backpacks on our backs and laptops in our hands, it means going to university and being reminded of my earlier school life at home. It means many afternoons wandering the university ground or studying alone in the library.

Study abroad means never forgetting the wishes of our parents and friends before we left. It means trying to do our best to make them happy.

Study abroad means feeling upset when we haven’t finished our assignments, it means disappointment when we fail, it means trying to communicate in an alien language.

Study abroad means our laptop becomes our best friend. It means sharing assignments, projects, online games, chat, blogs with our laptop.

Study abroad means we are proud of ourselves for the good changes we have made in our life. It means we are proud that we learn how to love others.

Study abroad means living and working collectively. It means sharing happiness and sadness and love of family with our housemates.

Study abroad means enjoying many interesting things from different cultures in a multicultural society. It means realizing that there are many things we do not accept but they are still acceptable.

Study abroad means understanding what young people are doing and realizing that they can learn from their mistakes.

Study abroad means learning how to keep our promises with people.It means respecting other’s privacy.It means knowing the value of ‘ please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’.

Study abroad means learning to love and be loved. It means learning to live and live comfortably.It means learning to smile and appreciate the smiles of others. It means knowing that LIFE IS SO SHORT, BUT IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL.

LEVEL 5- CQUniversity MELBOURNE

Level 5 at CQUniversity Melbourne is home to me after the hours of regular academic study with lecturers. In this place, I receive enthusiastic support from the staff of the Learning Skills Unit(LSU).

For most international students in CQUniversity Melbourne, Learning Skills Unit is very crucial. When students visit this center, they not only get help with assignments, but also receive useful advice for their study. For instance, when I have difficulty understanding my assessment tasks, I usually bring the course profile to LSU. At LSU, I have time to discuss with the staff, and see how to best approach the topic. Moreover, sometimes I bring the draft of my writing to them for feedback and comments. Through these ways, I can improve my English effectively.

It can be said that I feel comfortable when I use the many free services at CQUniversity. In this campus, all the staff always care about their students, they are willing to help students in not only their study, but also their outdoor activities. Moreover, many free services are offered to help international students improve their studies effectively. As an international student, I myself am proud of this University and these services. I think this is only offered in CQUniversity.

DR. TRIS - OUR RESEARCH SUPERVISOR

Dr. Tris was one of my lecturers who made a strong impression on my studies during Semester 1. She comes from Wales. She is very kind and has good way of teaching the units in Master of Creative Enterprise program. Following her direction, I knew not only how to take on many kinds of assignments in University, but also how to manage my studies effectively.

Arts Research and Communication in Creative Industries were two units I studied with Dr. Tris in Semester 1. The latter was divided into three small assignments: one presentation, one case study and one analytical paper. Even though all of these were new with me, I could easily finish all three assignments and achieve good marks by following Tris’s direction.

However, Arts Research was the more difficult unit for me. There was only a single large assignment requiring up to 5000 words, which I’ve never undertaken before. Step-by-step, Tris guided me with advice on how to choose my research question, plan my research and choose my research methods. Particularly, the Literature Review and the Research Analysis were two most difficult parts, which we took many hours to discuss. By studying with her during Semester 1, I could understand what primary and secondary research was and how to conduct a survey or do an interview as support for my research. With Tris, she understood that this was the first time I’ve had to write such a large assignment, so she answered any questions I had. With her help, I managed to achieve a good mark for this subject.

I finished the first semester with good results for all three of my subjects. Now, with the knowledge I’ve received from Tris, I can confidently bring research into my study. Hopefully, in the next semester, I will have a chance to study with Dr. Tris again - one very nice teacher I know.

CQUniversity Melbourne - A Strong Impression

A one-week English course in CQUniversity Melbourne made a strong impression on me. No one believed that I studied a one-week English course before I started my degree program. However, it is true and was a memorable point of my study in Australia.

As many international students, our group of four students, including a Vietnamese and three Thais, had to study an English course to meet the entry requirements of CQUniversity. At that time (September 2009), we registered in GEOS - an English language centre in Melbourne. Unfortunately, GEOS folded a week before we could finish our English course. The collapse of GEOS was a shock to us. Without the English certificate from GEOS, we couldn’t register for a degree program in CQUniversity.

It was terrible for overseas students like us and we definitely didn’t know how to solve our problem. Following the suggestion from my aunty, who has been living in Melbourne for a long time, I sent an email to the director of CQUniversity Melbourne with a hope that CQUniversity would offer some help to us. Unbelievably, after four working days, the director himself replied with an email to me. In that email, he noted that CQUniversity would offer a one-week English course without any fee for us. After that, depending on our results in English final test, we could go through to Semester One. Happily, with this special offer from CQUniversity Melbourne, we could confidently continue our studies in Melbourne.

The one-week English course was very exciting for us. We studied with an experienced teacher, and we revised our vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening and writing. Moreover, she taught us many effective methods to study, such as how to find academic journals for our research and utilise many services in CQUniversity effectively. That information was very helpful. It gave us more confidence to begin our first semester in CQUniversity.

It could be said that after the one-week English course, we received lots of useful information and was ready for our first semester. The director, the English teachers and the staff at CQUniversity Melbourne made a strong impression to me. As a student who is studying in CQUniversity, I think I made the right choice in choosing CQUniversity for my studies in Melbourne.