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Kaiya by Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand

Grassy hills in New Zealand

Kaiya, film festival exhibition coordinator

Pukerua Bay on the Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand

The sea at sunset

When you go abroad, there are a lot of things you might be nervous about. Whether it's making new friends or travelling on your own for the first time, it often seems like the latest source of anxiety for the day is just waiting around the corner.

Some problems you’ll experience are predictable, but some aren’t. For media studies major Kaiya Healy, her Arts Work Experience (AWE) internship in Auckland, New Zealand was, for the most part, smooth sailing. As an exhibition coordinator for a film festival, she got to organize and host tours of immersive, mixed reality and gamified installations.

Kaiya’s work life was great — she got to travel between Auckland, Wellington and Christ Church. In spite of all her efforts to mentally prepare herself for the challenges she might face, she couldn’t have predicted this one. 

“I was staying at a homestay and the reason I stayed at a homestay is because I had a good experience in Ireland. So, I was like, why not?”

What she expected to be a positive experience turned into an uncomfortable one. Her host, although well-intentioned, encroached on Kaiya’s personal boundaries, putting her in an awkward position as a guest. 

“It was the first time I've had a roommate I didn't get along with.”

Thankfully, the pre-departure orientation that Kaiya was required to go through prior to her departure from Edmonton came in handy. Kaiya put in a ticket with the Education Abroad program, explaining the situation, and was able to schedule an appointment with an advisor. She was met with tips on how to handle the situation — options that involved taking a break from her homestay by going to visit friends or even taking a backpacking trip along New Zealand’s coast. 

Kaiya went from walking on eggshells in a seemingly delicate situation, to quickly finding a realistic solution. Sometimes, all it takes is a little help from someone who isn’t subject to all the emotional turmoil of your situation. 

The pre-departure training that the U of A offers helps considerably, not just with situations like Kaiya’s, but also with less glamorous arrangements associated with going abroad. Insurance is one of the big ones — a maze of unfamiliar jargon, hidden clauses and policies; navigating it often seems daunting. Kaiya felt similarly overwhelmed. She needn’t have worried, because the U of A provided all the information she needed to be reassured of her decision to study overseas. 

Travelling alone suddenly became less intimidating once she knew there were protective measures in place, whether it was general safety tips or travel insurance.