18 Dec 2014

Are you torn between taking a year off to travel and heading straight into university? On the one hand, you think you could benefit from a year immersing yourself in another culture, but on the other you’re keen to get right into studying for your dream career.

Well, why not kill two birds with one stone?

There are so many options out there for you to take your study overseas, so you can get the best of learning from the books and learning from experience. Here are some of the reasons why you should consider spending a term or two learning abroad.

1. Variety of locations

Exchange programs aren’t just limited to the UK and America, and Australian universities now have connections to institutions all over the world, including countries across Europe, Asia and South America. If you’ve ever wanted to visit a country that’s totally foreign to your own, then exchange is the perfect time to do it–you can immerse yourself entirely in a new culture while still having all the tricky business like accommodation and study organised for you.

2. Education opportunities

While you’re studying abroad, you can either choose a course along the same lines as your degree at home, gaining a new perspective on a subject you want to learn more about, or you can choose to do electives outside of your area of study, possibly in subjects that aren’t offered at your university in Australia.

It’s a chance to broaden the scope of your learning and gain some insights you may not get otherwise, while still earning credit points towards your degree.


Planning on learning another language? There’s no better way than to dive into the deep end and practise your skills in a place where they will be constantly challenged. Plus, bilingual looks pretty hot on a resume (or on your Tinder account).

3. Career benefits

Employers look for a number of qualities in a potential employee, many of which you can gain from travelling overseas. Merely talking to people from other countries provides a cross-cultural experience that will improve your communication skills and make you a more personable worker, particularly if your job involves people from all over the world.

Plus, studying at a university in another country means you could be making connections with people in your chosen industry on the other side of the world. You never know, a life changing job opportunity could be offered to you, so long as you’ve got the guts to walk up to someone and say “hello, my name is…”.


Being able to study in a new, different and sometimes scary environment proves you are adaptable and can easily adjust to new situations, plus you will gain a resilience and independence that you otherwise wouldn’t if you were studying at home.

4. Amazing experiences

We all know that studying isn’t high on anyone’s list of fun activities, but mix it with travel and it’ll be one of the best experiences you’ll ever have. On your uni breaks you’ll be able to head off on some real adventures, travelling across country or two in the time between assignment deadlines.

You’ll meet new, interesting and exciting people from different walks of life, who can help integrate you into their culture and teach you about their country. You’ll party and explore and discover, and you’ll learn about yourself and where your true passions lie.

Want to hear more about traveling abroad? Check out CQUs exchange programs and see how you can tick off travel from your bucket list without having to take time out of your studies.

And remember, if you want to travel for longer than a term, or want more flexibility to travel where you like rather than following a study abroad program, you can always choose to study by distance education from anywhere that has Internet!