Fried chicken joints are the lifeblood, soul force, and essential ingredient to all human happiness, and they need YOU to eat their delicious food! And to start off, we’ll zoom in on the epicentre of fried chicken that is Auckland CBD.

Auckland CBD

Sensational Chicken

Address: 11A Mount Street

As far as cult icons go, there aren’t many as prominent as the truly sensational, truly delicious Sensational Chicken. Well known to 1st year halls students and 7th year PhD students alike, it truly epitomises great taste combined with irresistible convenience. Situated directly in the golden zone with UoA and AUT, you’ll find the most popular $6.50 chicken and chips snack box sure to satisfy your taste buds. For those keen on something a little different, the kebab on chips dish also hits the spot real good!

Now there’s a few other locations that offer the same tasty chicken if you can’t make it to the student location. Hobson Street, Mount Roskill, and even Hamilton has its own joint now (possibly Auckland returning the favour after copying Bar 101 from Hamilton?).

Avachi Chicken

Address: 239A Queen Street

Many a drunk uni student has stumbled down Queen Street after a big night in town only to succumb to the majestic smell of fried chicken wafting across their alcohol-soaked face. The responsible culprit? Avachi Chicken. Some students say it tastes like fried chicken; some adults say it tastes like their youth. Don’t miss out and give it a try at least once while you’re studying – you won’t regret it. Prices for a snack box of one thigh and chips start from just $6.40, and an eating experience ends in pure satisfaction.

Kai Eatery

Address: 1 Rutland Street & Commercial Bay

Located in Commercial Bay and a colourful orange shipping container store next to the Central City Library, Kai Eatery provides the perfect mid-study snack OR full-blown fried chicken feast. The star of the show has to be the $12 XL Fried Chicken piece. Created in the classic Taiwanese style meaning it’s larger than the facial mask you secretly tried last night, this tasty piece of meaty morsel leaves you always wanting more. Juicy on the inside, crunchy on the outside, and a 10/10 poser for a good food snap. Get a side of the famed kumara fries and wash it all down with some of their bubble tea while you’re at it!

For those Shore boys and gals amongst us, good news is that you don’t have to leave your hood to get a taste of this stuff. There’s another Kai Eatery store located at Smales Farm so there’s no need to ever pop that Shore bubble of yours

Auckland Suburbs

Some of y’all Aucklanders have never visited the other side of your city and it shows.

OK, now that the personal attacks are over, let’s think about why fried chicken can be the thing that brings us all together <3 Since lockdown is now over, we might as well make the most of our newfound freedoms right? If it’s too much effort to organise a road trip out of town, why not do one within your own city? Last year on National Fried Chicken Day, myself and a couple of mates drove around every single side of town eating fried chicken to our hearts’ content. It was amazing. I mean sure, travelling around Europe is great, but it can’t compare to the adventures of travelling around your own city in search of fried chicken!

South Auckland: Young’s Lunchbar

Address: 17 Fair Mall, Otara

If Auckland CBD is the epicentre then Otara Town Centre is the heartland of fried chicken. You really don’t need to walk far before encountering the sweet smell of it attacking your nose. Young’s Lunchbar is one such eatery providing steaming hot, tasty fried chicken along with a whole range of delicious bakery food. It is by no means the only such place here though. Any store on this particular crispy, golden strip of road will have fried chicken vendors itching to let you taste their family recipes. The only thing you’re in danger of is eating more than you should in a day!

East Auckland: Kiwi Chicken

Address: 8A/345 Chapel Road, Flat Bush

Not far from South Auckland’s golden stretch is East Auckland’s answer in the battle for the best fried chicken. Kiwi Chicken is a classic crowd-pleaser for the whole fam, offering interesting flavours such as spicy soy and spring onion chicken in addition to the classic style.

Kiwi Chicken also has a sister store located in Mount Eden which is famous for its Korean-style chicken, so do give it try too!

West Auckland: TNC Fried Chicken

Address: 382/396 Don Buck Road, Massey

Now I’m not gonna lie, West Auckland is somewhere I’ve only frequented a small handful of times despite being a born and bred Aucklander. But damn, I wish I went more now that I’ve discovered TNC Chicken. Despite the additions of the big flagship Texas Chicken and Taco Bell fast food restaurants out west, this little-known local takeaway is a hidden gem. Once again, the $6.20 snack box can’t go wrong here and is sure to fill your belly without destroying your wallet.

TNC Fried Chicken also has two other branches located in Manurewa and Clendon Park in South Auckland which are equally as good!

North Shore: The Coop

Address: 90 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna

We’ve all gone through the experience of being cooped up for weeks on end in our homes. Now that we’re out, the perfect place to let loose and enjoy life is at The Coop, especially since your life will be instantly improved when you bite into their amazing chicken. The scrumptious jerk fried chicken range comes in bite-sized pieces that can be shared – or not. I’d definitely recommend sitting down to enjoy the awesome atmosphere and to grab a drink while you’re at it!

Central Suburbs: Electric Chicken

Address: 14 McDonald Street, Morningside

I spent a long time internally debating whether Central Auckland deserved another entry given the CBD joints already in this list. But Electric Chicken is just too good not to be included here. It is honesty just too good but in a drool accent this time. The chicken is juicy, tender, and cooked to just the right sizzling temperature to burn your tongue but still be worth getting hurt for. Electric Sauce is a great choice for dipping, but there’s a bunch of other good options too. The vibes here are perfect on a warm sunny day and the nearby cider bar is a wonderful complement to your fried chicken!

City dwellers can rejoice that Electric Chicken has another location on K Road for your convenience

New Zealand

So…domestic travel is legal now. You know what that means It’s time to drive the length of New Zealand to sample the best fried chicken across every region of the country! Ok that’s very crazy but if you are a truly mad fried chicken fanatic, I’ll just leave this here so you can decide if you will take the ULTIMATE journey in the name of fried chicken.

Hamilton: Wongs Kitchen

Address: 63 Massey Street, Frankton and 560 Te Rapa Road, Te Rapa

Many a roadtrip that didn’t need to pass through Hamilton has passed through Hamilton, solely to get a fix of the legendary takeaway shop that is Wongs Kitchen. Its renowned fried chicken wings are likely to be more famous than most NZ politicians and celebrities, to be perfectly honest. It has also served as a classic watering hole for uni students looking for a late-night rendezvous with fried chicken after a few rowdy ones at The Outback. The rest of its non-chicken menu is pretty darn good too, including some super affordable noodle & rice meals!

Wellington: Soul Shack

Address: 38 Dixon Street, Te Aro

Wellington is known to have dangerous levels of wind, but Soul Shack’s Level 4 spicy chicken is the only thing that can possibly threaten your life more. As with Covid-19 alert levels, it’s better to be in the lowest levels possible – especially if it’s your first time eating here. Don’t worry, the mild version of their fried chicken is just as tasty! And it’s even more beautiful once wrapped in the familiar arms of a pair of bread buns and some burgery insides. Everyone with a working set of taste buds must try this place out. However, as you move up the spice levels your taste buds may lose their function temporarily (or even permanently!).

Christchurch: Monster Chicken

Address: 1 Riccarton Road and 394 Riccarton Road, Riccarton

Like the name suggests, there is something really monstrous about this place. That, my friends, is the list of fried chicken flavours available at this fine establishment. From parmesan cheese to sweet chilli chicken, the different flavours to try here are endless. The platter combos are a great way to sample the varieties of chicken, and are a surefire way to make your flatmates love you (even if you never do the dishes).

Dunedin: Miga Hako

Address: 366 George Street and 1 Albion Place

It’s a cold place in the south but it’s not as bad when you warm your insides up with some succulent Korean fried chicken from Miga Hako. Well-known for their awesome fried chicken and all-round cheap meal deals, it’s a must-visit place for any hungry student on a budget! Who knew the tastes of South Korea would bring so much joy in this little corner of the South Island?

So there ya have it, the ultimate list of fried chicken destinations to tick off your bucket list as you explore more of Aotearoa. Pack your bags, grab some mates, and prepare your stomach for a tasting adventure you won’t forget – IF you choose to take up the challenge. For other challenges, check out our blog on living on $2.85 a day!

Consider yourself somewhat of a fried chicken connoisseur? Feel free to share your favourite fried chicken places in the comments below and help your fellow fried chicken lovers out!

It’s the year 2020.

You’ve got some hard-earned cash stashed away in your bank’s online savings account, earning 0.1% interest. You’ll be lucky to buy even one avocado with your interest at the end of the year, let alone your fav smashed avo’ on toast.

Investing in shares and other financial instruments can boost your saving goals dramatically, and our ‘Student Investing Starter Pack’ aims to help YOU get started. Because even if you’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time, sometimes the hardest part is taking the first step.

Now, the most important thing is to NEVER invest any amount you can’t afford to lose. Investing is a privilege, and if you can look after your day-to-day financial needs whilst having some spare money to make calculated risks on, you’re good to go

Note: Any information provided in our ‘Student Investing Starter Pack‘ is intended to be for general purposes only and should not be considered personalised financial advice or recommendations in any way. You should always make decisions based on your personal financial situation and fully assess the relevant risks of any investments.

Student Investing Starter Pack

Key Steps

1. Choose an investment platform
2. Choose your shares
3. Track and manage progress
4. Sell your shares at the right time

1. Choose an Investment Platform

The most important tool you’ll need for investing is the platform you invest with, so here is an outline of two main options for first-time investors in New Zealand. This is what you use to buy and sell shares, manage your portfolio, and review the progress of your investments.

Sharesies

Sharesies is the new Kiwi kid on the block with regards to the investment game, and boy does it look pretty. Their mission is to create the most financially empowered generation by making investing accessible for everyone in Aotearoa. So let’s go through their main features in the form of pros and cons.

ASB Securities

ASB Securities has been around for awhile as a tried and trusted investment platform, the Bill English of the industry if you will. As its name suggests, it’s from the bank of the same name and their team used to provide daily business updates on the old 3News (if anyone still remembers those?). Let’s take a dive into the pros and cons of using ASB Securities.

The Verdict

There really is no outright best investment platform in New Zealand and the choice comes down to your individual circumstances and investment strategy.

However, from a purely fees point of view it may make sense to use Sharesies if your portfolio will be under $3000 or if you will regularly make trades a few times each year. ASB Securities may make more sense if you buy and sell shares in increments above $3000 and up to $10,000, especially if you are likely to hold shares for at least a few years before selling.

There are also a few other options available in New Zealand, including InvestNow, Direct Broking and Hatch. They haven’t been explored in this article because we’re focusing on beginner investors for the New Zealand sharemarket. However, for areas such as international trading, higher value investing, ETFs and managed funds they can be quite good and I would encourage you to explore these options as you gain more confidence and ability.

2. Choose Your Shares

There is never a one-size-fits-all solution for which shares you should select for your portfolio, and it all depends on your investment strategy. If you’re looking for consistent returns it could be worth looking closely at the utilities/electricity industry. A company working with new technologies could be the next big thing and make massive share price gains but could also end up suffering a massive setback. These are just some examples of the various possibilities of investing.

Research, Research, Research!

Do your research on the companies you’re considering. These steps will help you build confidence in the companies you might invest in and detect any red flags to avoid.

Key Things To Research

• Look at the investor section of their websites for past annual reports, long-term business strategy and future financial projections.
• Search up the latest news articles about the company.
• Examine historical share price charts and find out key figures such as dividend yields.

Have Fun! Remember, this is the fun part. You don’t want to drown yourself reading through 200 pages of legal documents when researching but you don’t want to make investing decisions based off a hunch from your friend’s cousin’s stepdad either. Many of the companies listed on the NZX stock exchange are recognisable brands from everyday life. Is there a company you are a die-hard customer of? It could be time to put your money where your mouth is – after a reasonable amount of research, of course.

Shortlist

Whatever you find, it could be helpful to come up with a shortlist of a few companies you think have potential. Once you’ve narrowed things down, make a direct comparison between them to decide on the most promising candidates. You could also follow their price movements closely for a while longer to understand how the shares trade. Finally, decide on one or more shares to buy while also taking into account the fees you’ll get charged for each transaction.

3. Track and Manage Progress

Your chosen investment platform will have a range of tools to help you understand how your investments are progressing. You’ll have the ability to see the total value of your portfolio and the value of individual shares you own. It’s a good idea to check this regularly, but not too much that it drives you crazy. Keep an eye on the news about companies you have shares in. If there’s any important information that comes out, you may have to re-evaluate your position and act quickly.

Companies generally pay two dividends a year, an interim and a final dividend. This is the good stuff you’ve been waiting for. If you’re with Sharesies, the money will be paid into your online wallet for you to withdraw or even re-invest. If you bought shares through ASB Securities, you’ll have this transferred to your bank account.

Tax and Imputation

This is a very important area to understand as it has many implications for your share investments.

When you receive a dividend payment from a company, you will only receive 67% of the gross dividend amount. This is essentially a tax on dividend earnings of 33%. As most students are on a much lower tax rate, often only 10.5%, it is possible to claim back the difference when your tax return is done after the end of the financial year on March 31st.

This means while you’re studying the returns you make from dividends can be higher than after you start working full-time because your tax rate will be higher.

You may also notice imputation credits being attached to the dividends you receive. These will reduce the tax you’re liable for, as the company has already paid tax and this avoids double taxation. So make sure to keep track of these for your tax records at financial year’s end.

CSN and FIN

No, these acronyms aren’t for crime drama TV series if that’s what you were thinking. They’re two very important numbers for legal owners of New Zealand shares.

A Common Shareholder Number (CSN) is a number used to identify individual investors, and is unique to each person. A Faster Identification Number (FIN) is a number which acts as a PIN code when making sharemarket trades. These will be issued to you once you buy your first shares. You should absolutely keep these details safe, secure and avoid revealing them to anyone.

New Zealand shares will be recorded on one of two main share registries, Computershare or Link Market Services. You can log in to their websites using your CSN and FIN, gaining access to important information and documents such as dividend payment statements.

4. Sell Your Shares At The Right Time

This will be the saddest OR most rewarding part of the investing process. Sometimes, there’s no other option than to cut your losses when your shares have been consistently falling in price. On the other hand, you may find that your shares have doubled or even tripled their price in five years’ time, which is the dream for any investor!

Be Sensible

It helps to be sensible when making decisions on when to sell your shares. Do not panic at every negative article about a company or succumb to every sharemarket doomsday prediction in the media, because people make these predictions seemingly every year. Unfortunately sharemarket crashes do happen, as shown by the latest COVID-19 induced recession. It’s a classic example of a sudden and unforeseen event.

The key takeaway is that when things seem to be going unbelievably well, there’s almost always a bad event right around the corner. So don’t be greedy, and cash out when you’ve made a reasonable amount of gains. Waiting till the last moment before the sharemarket crashes is very risky, and by the time you push the sell button it could be too late. It is possible, but incredibly hard to time the market perfectly.

Be Self-Aware

Another important thing is to be aware of your own behavioural tendencies around investing. We are all human. We all have emotions. As much as we try to make our best investment decisions based solely on cold facts and evidence, there’ll always be a mental element clouding our most rational self. There is a much-researched area called loss aversion theory. It states that humans have a tendency to feel the negative impact of losses much more than the positive impact from gains of the same size. So don’t beat yourself up if things don’t go as great as you expected, because even the best investors have bad days.

Invest in Your Life

Sometimes, you will have to make selling decisions based on other things going on in your life. Need a new car? Buying your first home? Liquidating all your assets to travel the world? These are all valid reasons to sell and it’s important to remember that investing is a tool for enhancing the other aspects of your life. Only in the most extreme cases will it become your life itself. If you’re lucky, you may even hold onto the same shares you bought as a student all the way till your retirement. With that, I’d like to officially start the…. #InvestUntilRetirementChallenge

Buy some shares, and hold onto them until you retire. Even if it’s just one singular share you own in the end, it’s the thought that counts. Trust me, an investment made when you’re 21 is gonna age much better than a TikTok made at 21.

Useful Resources & Concepts

Resources

• Investopedia: Encyclopaedia and dictionary of everything finance and investment related. Its videos are also incredibly helpful for understanding complex financial concepts.
• Money King NZ: There aren’t many websites that are dedicated to investing in New Zealand but this one should be all you need. It’s got lots of guides and articles about different areas of investing, as well as some handy spreadsheet tools.
• NZX: New Zealand’s stock exchange has an official website filled with all the information you’d expect from them. Here you can find publicly available information on all the listed companies plus price charts and key financial figures of shares.

Concepts

You don’t need a finance degree to become good at investing but being armed with some basic financial knowledge can certainly help. Our ‘Student Investing Starter Pack’ is not a finance course, so I can only leave a few pointers for extra reading. Homework if you will. So go ahead and click on these links to get the proper definitions and explanations on Investopedia – they will help a lot if you are just beginning to learn about investing

• Diversification – the financial equivalent of not putting all your eggs in one basket, or investing in multiple companies so when things go wrong with one stock the others will keep things going strong overall.
• Business Cycle – the economy and share prices gradually grow over time before dipping and then restarting the cycle, which tends to repeat roughly every ten years.
• Risk vs. Return – shares which have the potential for a lot of gain can also cause more losses if things go wrong with the company, while there will be a limit to how much you gain from safer investments.
• Dividend Stock – these types of shares are usually in well-established companies that focus on paying consistent dividends at a good rate of return for investors.
• Growth Stock – these types of shares are expected to grow rapidly in price every year and pay little or no dividends, as the company invests in itself to grow further.
• Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) – these investments are essentially a ‘basket’ of multiple shares, which often cover entire markets, industries or countries.
• Mutual/Managed Fund – these investments put money from many people together to invest in a collection of assets, which is managed by professional fund managers who deduct some fees. The best known example here is KiwiSaver!

Are You Ready To Begin Investing Now?

Hopefully after reading our student investing starter pack you will become more confident about delving into the dark arts of the investing world. It’s honestly not as scary as you think once you’re in it. So the next time you’re about to splash out on that avo’ on toast, maybe you could think about feeding your new investment fund as well as your belly! For more saving tips, check out our discount blog section.

Got your own student investing tips to share? Leave a comment below and help other budding investors make bank!

So…for whatever reason you are housebound. Maybe there’s a thunderstorm outside, maybe your mates cancelled on your weekend roadie at the last minute, or maybe you are even locked inside due to a pandemic sweeping the globe.

Whatever the reason, it helps to look at alone time as an opportunity rather than a punishment. And this guide will hopefully unlock a few ideas to get through that time as enjoyably as possible!

Learn

Ok so you’re probably learning throughout the week from lecture recordings, textbooks and whatnot, but that doesn’t mean learning new things has to stop at your courses!

Whether you love singing “pasito a pasito” along to Despacito or got addicted to Korean films after watching Parasite, a spell at home could be the perfect opportunity to engage on a deeper level with a new language. Or if your family speaks another language at home, maybe it is finally time to listen to your parents’ cries for you to get better at it?

A great way of learning new things is by listening to podcasts. There are literally thousands of podcasts on topics ranging from science to business, from history to philosophy. The best thing about it, you can integrate it easily within your daily routine, such as listening over breakfast or even in the shower.

And if that’s not enough, there’s always the old fashioned way of reading a good ol’ book. Surely there’s at least one book you got as a present many years ago that needs to be flipped for the first time?

Recommendations:

• Duolingo – top language learning app with fun and interactive content for languages ranging from Japanese to High Valyrian
• Coffee Break language series – great podcasts for beginner to intermediate learners of French, Spanish, Italian, German and Mandarin Chinese
• We Study Billionaires – insightful podcasts on business case studies, the financial world and investment strategies
• Philosophize This! – podcast series on famous philosophers and some truly intriguing theories

Create

Spare time spent at home can seem like a long and arduous grind if you’re not being particularly active about the things you do. For long periods, it can definitely freshen up your mind by embarking on a new creative endeavour.

There are a whole myriad of ways to create something new. If you’re artistically talented, why not start painting or sketching again? Write a new song or tune if you are musically inclined. Create that food blog you’ve always wanted to start. Or even become a regular contributor to the meme economy, there’s always a need for fresh talent there. Meme creators are the real heroes who don’t wear capes in this modern world.

One of the coolest things I’ve seen is someone recreating a full-blown university campus on Minecraft so that they could hold a virtual graduation ceremony, since the real thing was cancelled.

For those that want to get their hands a bit more dirty, why not start whipping up some new recipes in the kitchen? Whether it’s cooking, baking, or mixing up new and wild cocktails, making food is possibly the most rewarding way of creating stuff!

Recommendations:

• Write a diss rap, create a tune, but do think twice before releasing anything that may damage your reputation!
• Try imgflip for quick and easy meme creation
• Follow @balanceyourplate on Instagram and attempt some of the delicious, nutritious recipes on there
• Yes ok, you have permission to make Tik Toks as it is an essential service

Exercise

So maybe some of us are high-energy freaks. The ones that can’t stay still, ya know? Not everyone is, but being active on a regular basis is a super important part of keeping your physical wellbeing on point.

There are ways of exercising even if you aren’t surrounded by heavy gym equipment or open fields. Bodyweight exercises are a great way to stay active and make progress towards your fitness goals. You could set some personal challenges and even challenge others to do the same.

Recommendations:

A cool challenge could be to pick two of these exercises and aim to do 100 reps of them every single day for 100 days straight. Depending on what you want to achieve, you can modify your personal challenges to whatever suits your lifestyle and schedule. So up that number, decrease it a bit, add other exercises – whatever you do, set a goal for yourself and just do it!

• Push ups
• Sit ups
• Squats
• Burpees

Reflect

Sometimes life seems to go incredibly fast and before you know it, you’re a boomer and you don’t remember what sports house you were in high school. If you do find yourself at home, try capture certain details in your life you might want to remember later down the line, whether good or bad. Think about the things you enjoyed or didn’t enjoy, or the things you did or didn’t do so well. It helps to be self reflective to improve and become a better version of the awesome human being you already are!

You can use the classic diary format, or there’s many apps that do the same thing.

Recommendations:

• Frank Stationery has a great range of awesome journals and notebooks
• Daylio Journal is a simple app allowing you to easily track your daily moods
• Leap Second allows you to film one second videos of each day in your life to put together in a single video

Organise

Some people are always going to be more organised than others, that’s a fact. If that’s you, congratulations! But surely no one can ever be completely organised 100% of the time…

Everything can be improved, at least I’d like to think anyway. Starting from your room, your wardrobe, your finances, your (Facebook) friends list, the list really does go on and on. Some people have Google calendars with every toilet break planned out, and I’m not saying you should do that but it is an area you could always spend time organising.

Recommendations:

• Backing up your photos and files to multiple locations can save massive heartache down the road
• Organise your Spotify playlists and create new ones
• Have you done your tax return?
• Update Instagram highlights to your latest and greatest moments

Plan

If nothing exciting is happening right now, it doesn’t mean it has to be like that forever. Chill time alone can be the perfect opportunity to start researching cool things you can take up in the future, based solely on your interests and aspirations.

These could come in the form of new hobbies, like finding the nearest dance or martial arts classes. Or you could look up new destinations around New Zealand for your next roadie.

It could finally be time to look at those emails for the student clubs you paid $100 to join at the start of the year…it’s honestly such a waste of money if you don’t go to anything right? And career wise, you can never be in a bad position if you spend some more time surveying your field for great opportunities in the future, or even other fields if you are so inclined to switch!

“The best part about being alone is that you really don’t have to answer to anybody. You do what you want.” – Justin Timberlake

Being left to yourself can be a blessing and a curse. The key thing? YOU will be the one who decides your fate. As they say, it’s all in your mind, and with these tips hopefully you’ll be able to carve out a Niesh for yourself.

And if all else fails, you’ve always got your dependable friend Netflix

What do YOU do when you’re alone at home? If you have any awesome ideas to share, feel free to leave a comment below and help your fellow inmates out!

As the new year approaches, for many it is time to delve into new resolutions, experiences and challenges.

One of the biggest decisions YOU can make at University is whether to embark on a semester or year-long exchange.

As an exchange veteran with one semester in the USA and one in Italy under my belt, I am here to offer some tips and advice

What is an exchange?

An exchange allows you to study at an overseas University for a specific length of time whilst paying your normal NZ tuition fees. You will choose a set of courses related to your degree to study while abroad, which can be credited back to your degree once you return home.

One of the BEST things about exchange is that usually your grades aren’t transferred to your academic transcript, just the credits for passing the course. This lets you have fun instead of having to worry about getting the best possible grades!

BUT an exchange means leaving behind a familiar environment, family and friends for a prolonged period of time. It can be extremely daunting even for the bravest of us!

So, why do it?

1) Personal Growth

Nothing beats being thrown into the deep end of a new country, culture or even language. It will quickly help you learn about yourself and the world around you. You will have millions of highs and maybe some very deep lows and they will help shape you to become a better, wiser person.

Going on exchange is more like starting out in a video game with a new character with all the possibilities to build whatever life you want, and a clean slate to be whoever you want to be.

2) New Friends

Out of all the most unlikely possibilities that could ever happen in this world, walking away from an exchange having made zero new friends is about a rarer chance than pigs learning how to perform on Broadway.

You won’t know who they are until you get there, and that’s literally the most exciting, scary, and beautiful part of it all. Some of these people could even have a lifelong impact on you… and at worst they’ll be cool friends to visit if you ever pass through their home cities in the future.

3) Travel

If you’re a fan of travel like me, this is the best time to get as much done as possible. You could be studying in a region where flights to other countries cost LESS than a Big Mac combo. OR you could be in a beautiful country where you end up exploring every nook and cranny during the weekends. Whatever your travel style is, you will find a University and location that suits your preferences.

Travelling normally is fun, but travelling on exchange is a whole different story. Especially if you’re with your newly-made exchange friends, it’s a great way to bond quickly and make memories that last a lifetime!

4) Culture

If culture is your forté, perhaps an exchange is for you. There could be so many reasons to live in the country of your dreams, whether it’s to connect with your ancestral homeland or to pick up a language you’ve always wanted to learn. You’ll gain a much greater understanding of the country than if you simply went there and did some tourist things.

Although a few months can be a short time to be fully accepted as a local. We all know that ONE guy/gal who comes back home thinking they’re all cultured but barely learnt to say thank you in the country’s language, so at the very least you can become the next meme amongst your ‘normal friends’ back home.

5) Great Memories

The months you are away on exchange can be some of the best you’ll ever experience in your life. Since you’re in an unfamiliar environment, every day you will encounter new things, places, ideas, people, and even animals (shoutout to the squirrels of UCLA!). This all creates the effect of time almost passing in a completely different manner, as if you’re having fun literally every second of the day.

6) Academics

Oh yeah… there’s the ‘study’ part of study abroad. This can definitely be an important one for you, with so many high-calibre professors and courses at universities around the world. It’s your chance to do courses within your study area that aren’t quite offered at your home University, or spend time with teachers who think and approach teaching in a different way. Studying overseas will definitely broaden your views on the ways in which education can possibly be delivered successfully. What’s more, sometimes there is the chance to attend conferences, join clubs or even gain research or work experience that you’d never get the chance for back home.

So those are some pretty cool aspects of going on exchange, but what about the factors that might be holding you back? As always, there’s two sides of the coin and it is definitely worth pondering over these factors before making the big decision.

Things To Consider

1) Money

Yup, let’s face it, going overseas on exchange is expensive. Flights, accommodation, insurance, and food are all things you should expect to cover. If the costs are simply too much for your financial circumstances, exchange may not be an option. Although every country, city, and University has different living costs I’d say around $10,000 should be put aside for an exchange (not including tuition fees as you are paying that to your home University anyway). If you plan on doing a lot of travel I would up that figure proportionately.

How to minimise your expenses:

• Choose a country with low living costs for things such as food, or somewhere on a cheap flight route from home.
• Find financial support through grants and scholarships available at your University e.g. Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia and Latin America.
• Use your student allowance and student loan living costs.

If you already live away from home in New Zealand, the accommodation costs won’t cause much of an extra drain on your finances. The weekly cost of living in most countries won’t usually surpass the cost of living in an Auckland hall of residence as a rule-of-thumb.

2) Course Crediting & Admin

Each University will have different procedures for exchange students and sometimes you will feel like you have hit a bureaucratic wall. This is probably the bane of every exchange student’s existence but it is a necessary evil to ensure you have a great time overall.

The best advice I can give is to NEVER GIVE UP because everything will be worth it once you begin enjoying the fruits of your labour. Do your research early, and always have backup plans for courses, accommodation, or anything else that can suddenly change.

Rocking up to find a course that is full or cancelled can be worse than any horror movie, but exchange is all about adaptability and overcoming obstacles so keep calm at all times, be flexible and use whatever resources you have available to fight the good fight! Sometimes it’s the things that don’t go our way which really teach us the best lessons in life and makes us stronger.

3) Personal Circumstances

Everyone has a different life back home and you’ll most likely have to consider yours as well. It may be that your family aren’t supportive of their favourite child living alone in a foreign country, or a potential long-term relationship that may become long distance. There are all sorts of barriers possible, but in general keeping the communication strong to all relevant people will make your chances of a successful exchange much higher.

4) Timing

They say that timing is everything, and that can be true in every sense of the word. Many degree programmes will have an optimal period for students to be studying on exchange e.g. 2nd year and 5th year for long degrees or conjoint programmes. 

If you’re in 1st year and think there’s the tiniest possibility you might want to go on exchange, do your research now and save the disappointment later down the line. Don’t let it catch you out as sometimes an exchange is not possible past a certain point of your degree.

The earlier you start thinking about it, the better your chances are of planning your courses to not delay your degree or graduation. That being said, sometimes people do have to stay back at uni for another paper or semester as a result of exchange, but many end up realising it doesn’t have the same catastrophic effects on their life as they thought it would.

Now if you’ve made it this far, CONGRATULATIONS!

You must be pretty serious about embarking on a journey that could potentially change your life. But this is just the start. The real fun is looking at potential places you could go… and then picking your University choices!

Obviously I’m pretty biased about going on exchange, and there’s a massive list of people I’ve low key encouraged over the years to have their own exchange experience. Out of all the people I’ve talked to, I’ve never heard anyone say they’ve regretted going on exchange but I have heard a lot of people regretting not going despite having the ability to do so.

For all Auckland University students who come back from exchange, we have to write a report about our experiences. I’ll leave you all with a snippet from mine since it won’t be published anywhere else. I think it sums up the idea of taking the leap pretty nicely.

Money will come and go throughout your lifetime. Many people will come and go. An opportunity for this life-changing experience only ever comes once.