Griffith University at the Gold Coast

I went out on a limb choosing Griffith University. The University of Illinois does not have any existing programs set up with Griffith however I wanted to be on the Gold Coast for the surf, the nightlife, the atmosphere. It has been a dream of mine to surf and to see the Outback since I was a kid, and now I can saw that I have realized two of my biggest dreams while completing my final two hours of college in Australia.

Griffith University http://www.gu.edu.au is a situated on a very clean modern campus with a very professional atmosphere. It is located in Southport, Queensland which is an hour and a half from Brisbane by car, bus or train. It has top facilities in Computer Media which I focused on while finishing my final two hours of Humanities and Social Science for my Industrial Engineering Degree.

Class Schedules are set up different in Australia. I only had classes on Wednesday and Thursday. In Champaign most classes meet Monday/Wednesday/Friday for an hour, or Tuesday/Thursday for an hour and a half. At Griffith my classes would meet one or two days a week for two to four hours. This is nice for students who also work, it was also made it possible for me to travel, and travel a lot I did.

Griffith University on the Gold Coast does not have dorms for the students. Students stay in flats mostly in Labrador, Southport, Main Beach, Surfers Paradise, and Broadbeach. I met some people who came from the Logan campus for a class or two a week. I met another group of girls who lived as far south as Kirra Beach. I shared a flat with my girlfriend Jamie Schroetlin, an Engineering Management major from University of Missouri - Rolla, in Surfers Paradise. We lived half an hour from campus by bus, and five minutes from the beach by foot.

My estimated budget was around $US 11,000. My total costs were relatively close at $US 12,000. I travelled quite a bit considering I only my travel expenses were only around $US 2,200. The largest cost that I had that I didn't include was about $US 500 in gifts, packaging, and postage to get things home.