Surf is up (Issue 17, 2009)
La Trobe student Guillaume Feraud
Guillaume Feraud only arrived in Melbourne a few months ago, in March, at the start of his first semester at La Trobe. That’s why it is amazing to hear that he has done so much in such a short time. Surely there are Australians who haven’t seen as much of Australia as Guillaume has in just a few months, and that on top of studying full time.
Guillaume took advantage of all his socialising opportunities from the very first day of the Welcome Festival and that paid off.
‘The Orientation week at the beginning of the semester is just the best idea at La Trobe University. I definitely made friends for life thanks to the different events. The international community is absolutely fantastic!’
And after making a lot of new friends, the next thing on Guillaume’s list was signing up to experiencing all the new adventures that Australia had to offer.
‘First, I attended the surf trips organised by S@LT, the surf association of La Trobe, then I bought my own equipment and signed up in a Melbourne club. It’s by far the best experience I have discovered in Australia. The Great Ocean Road is just wonderful!’
Guillaume is enrolled in the very popular Master of International Business at the Graduate School of Management and even though the education system here is quite different from the one in France, he welcomed the change and adapted very quickly.
‘Here there are not so many classes but a lot of individual work, whereas in France it’s the opposite, lots of courses and less individual work. I struggled a bit at the beginning but I quickly got used to it and I finally prefer much more the Australian system since I feel more responsible. The Master I study is very interesting with topics I never had before. I particularly like the interaction between the students and the teacher, which is much more informal than in France.’
After having a great time in Australia, Guillaume will be heading back home at the end of the year, with a much broader life experience and confident that this, as well as his international business knowledge will appeal to employers all over the world.