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Final Post of the Summer.

/ Roshan Parikh / Leave a comment

Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand

Today is my last day in New Zealand. Throughout the last couple weeks, it was my hope to post more frequently (at least one post per major stop). Unfortunately, the wireless Internet connections here are extremely unstable. If I connect, most of the time the connection is extremely slow and more frequently than not, the connection drops all together. I decided to just enjoy my trip here rather than deal with the frustrating Internet connections. However, I did manage to get a stable connection here at Auckland International Airport so I could make this one last post. I wanted to summarize the remainder of my trip since my post from Dunedin and wrap my summer up. Continue reading →

Dunedin, University of Otago, and Kiwi Higher Education

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The view of Dunedin from University of Otago.

The view of Dunedin from University of Otago.

My second stop in New Zealand is at a place known as “Dunedin”, named by the Scottish settlers who were reminded of Edinburgh, Scotland due to the steep hills of the location (or so I was told). Upon arriving in Dunedin, Google Maps informed me that my hostel was only a 25-minute walk from the bus depot. Google Maps was wrong. If Dunedin was flat, then 25 minutes would likely be very accurate. The trek to my Hostel was all up hill. Extremely up hill. I’m pretty sure I did 5 months worth of working out within an hour and fifteen minutes, as I was hauling my 50+ pound suitcase with me. I took frequent breaks, and luckily, I had a full water bottle with me so I could stay hydrated. Continue reading →

Hello from New Zealand! First Stop: Queenstown

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Queenstown

About five years ago, I visited India and learned something unfortunate about myself. I had boarded a flight not knowing what I was about to experience. I had a cold and the congestion made it difficult for me to breath or hear. Upon our flight taking off, the pressure began to build against my ear drums. As we continued to ascend, the pressure mounted aned my ears wouldn’t pop. It was literally the most excruciatingly painful experience I have ever had in my life. I learned that me + flying + congestion = horrible idea.

Continue reading →

Federation University Australia

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Federation University Australia

It is July 11th, 2014 here in the land down under and it is my final day working for Federation University Australia. Early tomorrow morning, I will be departing for New Zealand for my backpacking adventure! I will be making my way from the south island up through the north island over the course of 12 days or so. My stops are Queenstown, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Rotorua, and Auckland. During my time in New Zealand, I will be visiting University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, and University of Auckland. I will try my best to post consistently while in New Zealand, however, this will be my last post that is specifically about my time here in Australia. Continue reading →

Housing & Residence Life in Australian Universities

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FedUni Living

For the past seven weeks or so, I have been working at Federation University Australia’s FedUni Living office as an ACUHO-I intern. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what ACUHO-I is, the acronym stands for the Association of College and University Housing Officers - International. Housing and residence life is a major functional area in the field of higher education and student affairs in the United States and ACUHO-I is an organization that brings housing and residence life professionals together. Every year, ACUHO-I organizes the internship program through which I secured my internship this year. Continue reading →

Pics!

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Ballarat

Hello All,

My apologies for not writing for a couple weeks. We had a long weekend last week and so I took the opportunity to visit Sydney during that time. I’ve been traveling to different universities here in Victoria as well thereby making it difficult to sit down and write a post. I’ve been here for four weeks and I only have four more weeks to go here before I head over to New Zealand! Time really flies. I’m not going to post much text here this time around. Instead, I’ll share a link to my flickr account where you can finally see photos of my time here thus far!

Click here to enjoy my photos!

Current Issues in Australian Higher Education

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Student Protest

(Photo from ABCnews.com.au)

Quite recently (within the last few weeks), The Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, announced plans to change how higher education is funded in the country. As I had mentioned in my last post, the cost of attending any university is currently the same from one institution to another, as the current funding model caps the cost of higher education here in Australia. Members of the Australian government would like to switch higher education funding to an American-like system, where individual universities can charge whatever they need to in order to supplement the funding they receive from the government. The government has indicated that the sharp rise in the number of students who wish to attend a university has made subsidizing the cost an unsustainable burden to the Australian Government. The government believes the new funding model will make Australian higher education more sustainable into the future. Continue reading →

Hello From Ballarat!

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Hello, all!

I just wanted to check in. I’ve made it over to Australia in one piece. I hit a serious delay of 24 hours trying to get here (a nightmare story of its own), but luckily that’s all over and I made it to my destination! I have been here for two whole days already and I am absolutely loving it. Now that I am a bit more settled, I hope to start writing more blog posts. Continue reading →