Reflecting on what I can confidently label as the best six months of my life, I have come to the realisation that The Making of Men extends long after finishing your final war-cry on Magnus Quad. While it may seem comical, one of my biggest motivators to study in the United Kingdom was my passion and borderline obsession with Premier League football. Since I was a young boy, I have always dreamt of watching Manchester United play at Old Trafford – colloquially known as The Theatre of Dreams. To anyone who has a knowledge of English football, they may find it ironic that despite being a United fan I had chosen Leeds as my home for the next few months. Leeds is known for being a ‘student city’, where roads upon roads were quite literally occupied only by students in townhouses. I was able to play football and rugby in sporting teams with blokes who I now consider to be best mates.

Apart from the extra-curricular side of my time in Leeds, I did have some university modules to complete. As recommended by the University of Queensland, I had saved the electives in my Commerce degree for my exchange semester so that I had freedom with the subjects I could undertake. I noticed two that particularly caught my attention: (1) FOOD1130 – Traditional Alcoholic Beverages and (2) LEED1030 – Outdoor Adventure: History and Development. Naturally, I enrolled in both of these subjects immediately and (after triple checking) it was confirmed that these genuinely counted towards my Finance degree. All things aside, I discovered an invaluable insight into what it is like to live independently and forged friendships that I would not have otherwise imagined.

While studying modern history at school I became fascinated with World War Two and the history of Germany through the 20th Century, so after my semester concluded I travelled from Amsterdam through Germany and into Eastern Europe. I was completely fascinated by the history that surrounded me and took full advantage of it. Few words can adequately describe the experience of walking through the eerie remains of the two concentration camps at Auschwitz – it is something you just have to do.

The generosity and support of the Churchie Foundation assisted me substantially in the way of personal growth through my experience studying abroad. There are very few boundaries to the trip of a lifetime and I strongly encourage anyone who is considering studying overseas to do so.