When I arrived at Melbourne University and saw that they had an exchange program, I instantly knew that I had to be a part of it. I’d taken a year off after high school to go on a Rotary exchange to France and had had such a fantastic time that the second I got back I was wanting to head off again. I’d been bitten big time!

My only dilemma was choosing between all the amazing places I could go. I finally narrowed it down to two, Mexico or Canada. Mexico, because I wanted to improve my Spanish and it seemed like a really fun place to go, and Canada because it would be a good opportunity to see my extended family. My parents are originally from Montreal but moved to Darwin before I was born. Why they decided to go from one of the coldest places in the world to one of the hottest, still remains a mystery to me. But they eventually convinced me that I should go spend some time with the family, reinforced by McGill University’s great reputation. I think they were secretly worried that I’d spend too much time drinking tequila in Mexico.

So off to Montreal I went, off to freeze to death! I’m still not sure why I went in the winter semester to be truthful, maybe for the experience, maybe because I wasn’t all there up above. However I was lucky, it was a ‘mild’ winter, meaning that it only reached -25 degrees! I kid you not! It’s the wind chill that gets you. However Montreal is so well organised that you can basically live underground, transportation, shopping, everything. I also managed to finally learn how to ski, met some amazing people from around the world, and thoroughly enjoyed my classes at McGill. I got to take subjects I never could have in Australia, like the psychology of bilingualism, which I personally found fascinating.

One of my only regrets is that I didn’t stay to see Montreal in summer. Montreal is an amazing city. It’s totally bilingual and has the mix of cultures between the anglophone area around McGill but also the francophone mentality and culture. It’s a very lively city with many places to go out, but in summer it comes to life with the comedy festival, jazz festival and grand prix.

However instead, I took summer as an excuse to travel. You see, as Canada is so far away, it was actually cheaper for me to get a round the world ticket. It was a great excuse for me to go visit my host families in France, a friend in Barcelona and another friend from Melbourne Uni on exchange in London on the way there. Then on the way back I went to NY, Boston and spent a month and a half in Mexico, Peru and Argentina. It was such a great experience! One of the best things too was that I got youth allowance for the whole time I was away because I’d been studying in Canada.

I had an amazing time and I’d definitely recommend an exchange to anyone who’s thinking about it. The two times I went on exchange are without a doubt the best two periods in my life. It’s true, it can be difficult adjusting to a new lifestyle at the beginning, but the experiences you have and the people you meet make it more than worthwhile. I now have friends around the world, fantastic memories and am much more resilient to the cold.