My Avondale experience a year on from COVID
A year ago, I put myself on a plane and flew across the ditch to attend Avondale University College. Moving from New Zealand to Australia is a big deal for an 18-year-old fresh out of high school.
Then only three weeks into my Avondale experience came the coronavirus lockdown. I didn’t know whether to return home or stay on campus. While I didn’t want to miss out on anything, I didn’t want to get stranded. After many back and forth calls with my parents, we made a bittersweet decision: I would stay.
A considerate family heavily involved at Avondale took me under their wing, but those months away from home and from Avondale—with the unfamiliarity and the uncertainty—were hard. I persevered through three months of online study before face-to-face classes resumed and my Avondale experience re-started.
I got involved in campus activities—playing basketball and soccer helped me keep fit and make friends. I hung out in the residences and at the cafeteria. And to ensure I got the most out of being in a beautiful foreign country, I went on many off-campus trips—to the beaches, to the jetties on Lake Macquarie to watch the sun set, to the lookouts in the Watagans, and to Byron Bay.
I returned to New Zealand to see my family nine months later—Avondale had become my second home.
It’s now a year since the beginning of COVID and I’m back at Avondale. Travel restrictions are still a thing—so dates for a return home are still a bit uncertain—but this time I know Avondale is the best place for me to grow within myself and my abilities.
Photograph
Heather Rielly (left) with friends from Avondale University College.
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