Home Amongst the Gum Trees Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload was pretty similar to a standard college workload in the states as this is an American-based program. Grading was the same as it is in the states. Professors expected a lot out of us even though we were constantly in the field and on field trips. Because the courses were 300-level, I felt like this was fair.

On-site administration of your program

The student affairs manager (SAM) was absolutely awesome, but a lot of times the people higher up in the program were ill-prepared, and plans were constantly changing last minute, which was somewhat frustrating.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

We lived in cabins that were, to be honest, in pretty bad shape. I understand that this is a field program and that we were sort of "roughing it," but the cabins were filled with mold very often. (Don't go on this program if you have very bad asthma). The general facilities were in pretty bad shape at the beginning of the program, although they got much better when a new site manager was hired. The cabins are also very far from the centre (where you take classes, eat, etc), which was somewhat of an inconvenience when we were up working until the wee hours of the morning. However, we were shown a lot of hospitality by the faculty and staff at the centre, and it wasn't all bad.

Overall, the food was very good and I never went hungry. We always had fresh fruit, vegetables and a variety of healthy options for every meal. My only complaint was that there was never enough of the vegetarian main course to go around since the non-veggies would also eat it, and the cook only prepared enough servings for the number of vegetarians present typically. Also, don't eat the Tasty Cheese.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

We had a lot of opportunities to work with TREAT (a community group dedicated to replanting the rainforest) and other community groups around the Tablelands. We also got to go on quite a few fun field trips to sites around the Tablelands, such as Millaa Millaa falls, swimming Lake Eacham, and shopping at the Yungaburra market. At night, if we didn't have work to do, we students would play cards, bake, or watch movies.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The healthcare available in Atherton isn't that great, but it's adequate. The staff was well trained to handle emergencies on site.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

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• Other

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• Americans

• Living amongst the diversity of the rainforest
• The field trips we went on
• The close friends I made

• Living situations
• Too many silly rules on site
• Planning of daily life/activities