This is the space for your weekly journals.

Week 1 Reflection – Jan 20th

This week I decided to walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens next to the Sydney Opera House. The gardens themselves were beautiful, with well-kept grace and beautiful flowers, but the best part can be seen in this image above. After walking around the entire garden, you are greeted with this phenomenal view of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. This, by far, has been one of my favorite activities of the week, and I look forward to more beautiful sites I will see around Sydney and Australia.

Week 2 Reflection – Jan 27th

This week I was given multiple incredible opportunities to experience more Australian culture. On Saturday, we were fortunate enough to go to the Walkaround Park, a wildlife refuge for many animals who need it from all across Australia. The park had Kangaroos, Emus, Wallabies, Tasmanian Devils, and even a pig. It was fantastic to see many of these animals, which Australia is so famous for, up close and personal. The history behind the park was also heartwarming about how these individuals, who are primarily volunteers, spend their days caring for injured and displaced animals. The Walkaround park was phenomenal, but the week only improved when we had a tour of the Sydney Opera House. The outside of the building is beautiful, but it was cool to go inside, learn the history of the building, and see the beauty continued within the shells of the building. The architecture behind the building inside and out is incredibly unique, and it was awesome to gain some background knowledge on the tumultuous history of getting this worldwide icon built. Overall this week provided many unique opportunities to explore more of Australian culture and history, and I look forward to many more weeks to come.

Week 3 Reflection – Feb 3rd

As we approach the end of our fourth week here in Australia, it’s crazy how fast it has gone by already. Additionally, we only have one class in our first block until we finish our first two classes. Starting next week, we begin new courses, but our current classes keep us busy. Over the weekend, with the small amount of free time we had, we discovered new beaches and took this incredibly scenic walk along the coast. The views and weather were absolutely spectacular and we found a much more relaxing beach than Bondhi. Monday was also a lot of fun as a large group of us Bucknell students went out to celebrate Ryan Kenans birthday. Overall another great week, and I look forward to starting some new classes next week.

Week 4 Reflection – Feb 10

This week on one of my walks through Sydney, I stumbled across this remarkable sculpture. In the middle of this roundabout lay a destroyed car with a boulder on top of it. This piece of artwork was simply a destroyed car, but I thought it was much more than that. First of all, it represented how they can find beauty in everything in Australia, even a car wreck. Additionally, as someone who greatly enjoys cars and seeing unique vehicles across Sydney, this art resonated greatly with me. It simple terms, I thought it was just cool. Car spotting in a foreign country is one of my favorite things to do, and it is interesting to see what cars are sold here and not in the US and vice versa. This artwork was just a way to connect my hobby to the city of Sydney. It shows Australia’s unique style, and it is just another thing I would like to share in my further discovery of Australia.

Week 5 Reflection – Feb 17th

Over this past weekend, many of us Bucknell students decided to go on an all-day excursion to the Blue Mountains National Park. Our day started at 6:45 AM, and it took us about three hours to get to the park. But once we got there, it was clear the trip was already worth it. It was a lovely day, not a cloud in the sky, and the views were simply immaculate. The pictures do not justify the natural beauty as the horizon was just filled with beautiful cliff sides and luscious forests. Overall the trip was well worth the time, and as it already is week 6, we only have two more weekends left in Sydney, so it is now time to make the most out of the city before we go for good.

Week 6 Reflection – Feb 24th

As our penultimate week in Sydney began, we wanted to make sure to take full advantage of the city before we left, so we tried to stay busy all week. This week we have already made it to the beach and decided to do the Bondi to Coogee beach walk along the ocean, which was stunning. It was a beautiful day that took us about an hour and a half, but it was worth it. The views are simply unmatched as you look off into the ocean from the cliff’s edge. We also decided on Thursday to go to the Powerhouse Museum, which was full of nifty gadgets and engines from the Industrial Revolution up to the Space Age. We hope to go back to the beach this weekend and potentially go to a national park before next week, as it will be hectic leading up to our departure. It is incredible how fast time has gone, and I look forward to soaking up just one more week with Sydney.

Week 7 Reflection – Mar 3rd

This week was our last week in Sydney and quite a hectic one. In between studying and taking finals, I was able to play a round of golf at a beautiful course here in Sydney. We also made it to Bondi one more time on an absolutely spectacular day. Overall I have greatly enjoyed my time in Sydney; these eight weeks flew by. The city’s weather is perfect, and I loved going to all of the beaches, trying new food, and seeing the sights throughout the city. However, I am ready for a change of scenery. This weekend we head to Cairns for spring break and our last week in Australia. Then we are off to Singapore to start our internships.

Week 8 Reflection – Mar 17th

Although I took a week off from the blog for spring break and am now in Singapore, I do not want to gloss over the phenomenal week I had in Cairns. We were there for six days and did a multitude of activities. On the first day, we visited Fitzroy Island off of the coast to swim and explore. That Monday, we went on an exploration of the Atherton Tablelands and a rainforest excursion. Tuesday, I was able to go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, which was absolutely spectacular. The following day, I was fortunate enough to go to a crocodile farm and try croc, which tasted like chicken but was significantly more expensive. Definitely more of a one-time thing. But my favorite day was my Thursday in Cairns, in which a large group of us went skydiving over the Great Barrier Reef. The weather was perfect, and the experience was indeed once in a lifetime. If anyone ever finds themselves in Cairns, I would recommend they do the same. This week we traveled to Singapore to start work, but I will hold off for one week on sharing my initial experiences in Asia.

Week 9 Reflection – Mar 24th

I have now been in Singapore for just under two weeks and have had a great time. I have had a tremendous work experience thus far, have learned a significant amount, and have been given great responsibility. I’ve already helped with a client-facing presentation, as well as a client meeting which was stressful but a great learning experience. Over the weekend, we were able to try Michelin-star-rated food in the Chinatown Hawker center, which was absolutely delicious. After that, we went to the Singapore National Museum, which was great for learning about the country more. Finally, we went to the top of Marina Bay Sands, the famous hotel in Singapore. Overall Singapore has been unique, and I look forward to exploring more of it.

Week 10 Reflection – Mar 31st

As week three of the internship and my time in Singapore comes to a close, I look back and see that I have learned a great deal already from work. The experience I have gained at Prive thus far has been fascinating, and I am constantly discovering and acquiring new skills every day. But my favorite part of Singapore has to be the delicious food. The Hawker Centers, which are all over the city, sell and serve a wide array of food, all of it being absolutely delicious. Every day for lunch, I go to one of my favorite Hawker Centers, The Newton Food Center. Each day I can try something new, and most days, I do. It is something I greatly look forward to when I wake up each morning. Overall my time here is already flying by, and I look forward to discovering and eating more in this city.

Week 11 Reflection – Apr 7th

This week in Singapore was fairly relaxing and uneventful. Work this week was still fascinating as I continued to learn more and more about the industry. The combination of learning about finance and software at the same time is challenging but incredibly rewarding once I started to understand everything the company had to offer. When it came to what I did in my free time, I decided to go to the Henderson Wave, which was a unique bridge with an incredible view. Overall great week, and really looking forward to this weekend as we have Friday off due to a public holiday. See you all next week, cheers.

Week 12 Reflection – Apr 14th

Another week has flown by here in the APAC region. Singapore has continued to amaze me, and I have enjoyed my time here greatly. This past week we all enjoyed a three-day weekend as Good Friday was a national holiday. This gave us all time more time to relax and explore more parts of the city. On Saturday, I trekked out of the city center to find a fantastic Bahn Mi place which was out of this world. We also were able to try out some new restaurants as well. And I will not forget this Singapore favorite which is ice cream in between a slice of sweet bread. It was definitely a unique taste, but $1.50 SGD is a no-brainer to try it out. Only about three more weeks left abroad so now it’s time to make the most out of what is remaining. Cheers.

Week 13 Reflection – Apr 21st

Down to two more weeks. It is crazy how fast my time in Singapore has gone by as well as my time abroad. I cannot believe it has already been 15 weeks. My time has been amazing, and I am still making sure to get everything out of it. This weekend we are actually headed off to Thailand for a long weekend so I will make sure to update you all on my trip for my final blog post next week. But this week in Singapore, I was lucky enough to get out of work early and head to the Singapore Artscience Museum. The museum was awesome and had multiple exhibits which highlighted the intersectionality between technology and art. My favorite exhibit was one that was focused on sneakers. It had a huge collection of vintage Nike’s which were very cool. Overall another great week, and I will see you all next week in my ultimate post.

Week 14 Reflection – Apr 28th

This marks the end of my reflections and updates from the Asia-Pacific Program. It has been a short 16 weeks since I left, and I have enjoyed every minute of the program. I have traveled to multiple countries and continents and enjoyed every stop along the way. For my penultimate weekend in the program, a group of us decided to go to Phuket, Thailand, which is a quick two-hour flight from Singapore. The weekend was spectacular and it was nice not only to take a day off of work but to be able to leave Singapore and experience something new for a weekend. Overall the trip was great, and my only regret was not taking more weekend getaways. As we wind down here in Singapore, I will miss the food the most. Everything I ate here was delicious, and I enjoyed the opportunity to try many foods that I would not necessarily eat back home routinely. My favorite, however, was a Thai place at the Newton Hawker Center which became a staple in my lunch almost every day. I am sad for my time abroad to come to a close, but happy that I got to experience it in the first place. Studying in Australia and then working in Singapore was a unique experience that I immensely enjoyed and benefitted from. I am ready to return to the US but excited to come back to this region of the world again and do some more exploring. And doing this program has opened my eyes to the opportunities of working abroad. To anyone on the fence about studying abroad, I would recommend just taking the risk. It truly is a unique and once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thank you for following me along on my journey, and I hope my stories convinced you to travel too. Cheers.