It’s been a few days since I’ve been home from New Zealand, and I’m wondering to myself what it was all about. How could I summarize the experience for someone? I’ve spent a lot of time telling you all what I did in New Zealand, but as I stated in the beginning, I journaled my feelings throughout this entire experience. There were a lot of things that will not be covered in this blog (namely, my personal life), but I wanted to share with you bits of the journey that I went on in New Zealand and what I took away from studying abroad.
February 8th, 2025
“I got the chance to have a moment to myself to think about living in New Zealand. It shouldn’t be ‘worry about this, worry about that,’ just DO.”
February 22nd, 2025
“Everyone wants to understand themselves. To label, to know what to be. But it is sometimes better to just feel, to just be, without the pressure of direction.”
Early on, I decided the best pieces of advice were to not set strict expectations for myself. Sometimes it feels overwhelming growing up in America because you feel like you have to be something, but in New Zealand I never felt that pressure. My study abroad experience was an opening to live casually.
March 7th, 2025
“An old man approached me in the new coffee shop I visited and complimented my highlighter usage (I was editing my writing). Small moments to be grateful for–what happened to conversations with strangers?”
It’s hard finding joy in the small moments because we get so carried away sometimes, but I love this quote because it reminds me to look for the small moments. Also, I think there’s a certain joy to talking to someone you don’t know. It can brighten up your day, and maybe it can brighten their day, too.
March 26th,
2025
“Today I looked down and noticed leaves on the ground.”
This was another small moment in my semester that really shocked me. I hadn’t expected autumn to come in March (even though I was in the southern hemisphere) and the epiphany hit me that I was in New Zealand, far away from everything and everyone I knew. And it wasn’t revolutionary or anything, it was just real.
April 4th, 2025
“When you go abroad you think you’re going to find out something revolutionary about yourself only to realize it was always there.”
A lot of times, studying abroad gets promoted as “life-changing,” and I fell for this propaganda easily. I went to New Zealand thinking I would come back as a new person, but I still feel the same. While you can definitely change while studying abroad, I think more than anything it reveals who you are at your core, the person who has always been there.
May 17th, 2025
“Today all my friends who are seniors graduate, and I don’t get to share that experience with them. I just really want to be back on campus.”
I got really homesick around the middle of May. I knew the hardest part about studying in New Zealand was the 9,000 miles separating me from my family and friends, but when the semester dragged on, and I was missing this milestone for so many of my friends, I felt horrible. As much as I loved New Zealand, I started to grow excited for the next year when I would be back in the states. Being away from home for so long made me appreciate what I had even more.
May 25th, 2025
“And that’s why I’ve grown so close to the IES Abroad group: my reminder of home.”
I haven’t touched on this too much in my blogs, but I spent a majority of my time with people from the IES Abroad group. It was hard making local friends because we were going through entirely different things. My IES Abroad peers, however, shared the feelings of awe, excitement, loneliness and homesickness throughout the trip. The program did a great job bringing us together, but I think we all bonded on our terms, too. And they helped me get through this semester and make it really special.
May 31st, 2025
“New Zealand is enormous, small, beautiful and terrifying all at the same time.”
Studying abroad across the world challenged me in ways I didn't expect, but I found both the good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful, all equally powerful and something to take away from my experience. I'm always going to remember my time in New Zealand. I felt unburdened and able to truly reflect on myself and the decisions I was making. It was the first time I was truly independent and making plans to do things I wanted to do. And I'll take that part of my life with me wherever I go.
Signing off,
Patrick Brady
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Patrick Brady
Hello! My name is Patrick, and I'm a third year studying English at the College of William & Mary! Some of my hobbies include running, reading a good book, and rock climbing! My favorite TV show right now is Survivor (it's an awesome show).
