Kia ora again, readers!

I know I just posted my first-month reflections a few weeks ago, but as I’m writing this, I am on a plane to Melbourne for our mid-semester break (which is the equivalent of spring break, and that just feels wrong because it’s August), so I thought I should update you. *Edit: I’m posting this a bit late (whoops), so my break is now over and I’m back in Dunedin.* It also feels wrong that I’m halfway through my semester, and y’all back at Whitman are starting your classes the same week (I hope you all had a fabulous first week of classes <3).

Something you should know about the University of Otago is that they gatekeep the final exam schedule (not actually but it definitely feels like it). I get that it’s a much larger school than Whitman and has an insane amount of classes, but I personally feel like they are able to determine all the finals dates and times much earlier than halfway through the semester. Because of this, I recommend not buying your return ticket until you know when all your finals are (*another edit because a friend brought this up: you could also get a flexible ticket, which might be cheaper!*), if you’re able to, so you have more freedom in planning what you want to do/where you want to travel to at the end of the semester. I’m not exactly sure what we’re gonna do after finals, but the plans are finally at least in the works now that we have our exam dates. Also, be prepared to have multiple things due around the same time. My friends and I all had numerous things due shortly before break began, making that week quite stressful, but we made it through!

Now onto the positives! Since my first-month posts, I’m happy to say that I’ve definitely settled in more and have become more comfortable here overall. I’ve become a lot closer to everyone and have branched out and stepped outside of my comfort zone to try some pretty cool things.

Firstly, I’m also happy to report that we have continued going to bar trivia, and we’ve very slowly been getting better! 

Secondly, I went tree-planting with UniCrew, the uni’s volunteer/community outreach/social impact club. It gave me the chance to see more of Dunedin/the surrounding areas while giving back to the community. We went to Potato Point, which is about 25km north of Dunedin. 

We collaborated with The Halo Project, an environmental habitat restoration organization. We were only there for a couple of hours, but it was so cool to see how much progress we made in that amount of time!

UniCrew has a ton of other volunteer opportunities to choose from, and they cater to all sorts of interests! They have something called the “Priceless Store” where you “shop” for volunteer roles– check it out here! https://www.unicrewotago.org/priceless

If you decide to come to the University of Otago and your schedule allows it, I highly recommend working with UniCrew at some point while you’re here.

Another thing I have recently picked up is archery! One of the many many clubs and societies is the archery club. Tasha has been doing archery for a few years now, so when we heard about the club, she convinced me and Hope to go, and it’s been a ton of fun. We’ve only been twice, so I’m not very good, but it’s been a great learning experience. I’ve also either been the only lefty or 1 of 2, so I feel special because I basically get my own bow.

All in all, I’ve been able to find more things that bring me joy, and I feel a lot more at peace here than I did a month ago. There’s definitely something for everyone at Otago, it just might take a little extra time to find it <3