From High School Exchange to University.

If we're not Facebook friends I figured I'd let you in on a (not so little) secret - I got into University :D Woot. Yay me. 


This wasn't at all guaranteed since I was only in year 13 for 6 months (if that) so I was stressed about meeting the requirements. However I did it. I got 60 credits among four subjects and got a subject endorsement for English.. Yes that probably did confuse you. However just know that - Nicole did good. 


Needless to say I am excited about starting at AUT already. I'm studying Communication Studies (which was my subject choice at my first choice university - yay). I've chosen my classes already, not that there was much to choose as most of first year are required. But it looks like this; (I believe if you click on them they get larger)

And semester two looks like this

Yay for not having to start before 10am and not having class on Fridays. I have a feeling I'm going to love University :) 


Will update later maybe. But you know how good I am at that ;) 

Home sweet home

So I've been home for 7 months now. And no I never did get any better at blogging. That doesn't mean I died though. So I figured I'd come on and update a little since I'm still getting quite a few internet hits on this site. Thanks to everyone who's visited it!


So instead of working chronologically with my experiences (i.e continuing where I left off) I'm gonna let you know how I'm doing now. 


A lot has happened since I've been home. I'm 18 now. An adult. It's kinda scary. Now I have to be mature and grown up. I'm still working on that.


In November I finished high school. Since I got back I was pretty stressed, trying to finish year 13 in six months rather than the usual 9 - 10. But I did it. Results will be out in just over a week though so then I'll know how well I really did. I've applied for University, to study Communications at AUT starting next year, but it will depend on my results.


At the moment I'm on Summer break. I visited my wonderful family in both Palmerston North and New Plymouth around Christmas which was nice, as I hadn't seen most of them since before I left America. I got back in Auckland before New Year and have been working since. I deliver pizza at Domino's now which is really awesome. I love my job. Everyone I work with is so nice.

I went to my school ball in July. It was very different from
America, but I still had a lot of fun dressing up fancy with all
my childhood friends.

I also really want to go back to America to visit my friends. This will greatly depend if I get into university though. My wish would be to see my fellow Junior class graduate cause graduation is such a huge deal in America. However if I go to university the breaks don't align correctly. So I have major decisions to make. None of which can be made until I have my school results back. So for now I wait. Which really blows.


Since I've been back, adjusting to my life in Auckland has been hard. I never got home sick for New Zealand when I was in America, but I now that I'm home I find myself getting home sick for America. When you leave your host country, you know that you're coming back, you have a deadline. When you leave America, you don't know when you're going to be back. It could be a year, it could be ten. No one really tells you what it's going to be like when you finish your exchange. Before I left New Zealand I got tons and tons of mail from EF telling me about what to expect when I got to America, but I never got preparation about coming home. Like anything it just takes time to adjust. And adjusting is hard. You have to work at it every day. I still have to work at adjusting myself to being home, even though I've been home for 7 months. Nothing has changed since you left, but being away has changed you. 

Myself, my Dad and Nana in New Plymouth since I've been home.

That's about all for now as an update on my current situation. 

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns, or if you're lucky enough to be going (or on) an exchange yourself. My email is nicolealeisha@gmail.com.

Happy travelling!