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Meet Charlotte, Poppy, Sage, Mel, Alice, and Cora. A bilingual ballerina (Alice) and a skydiving Swiftie (Charlotte). A lifeguard and half-marathoner (Poppy), Rubix Cube-solver and darts player (Sage), an arts and crafts and beach lover (Mel), and a surfer who likes to scale cliffs (Cora).

Back in Australia, each of these University of Queensland School of Nursing students work numerous jobs outside of studying and wear plum-colored scrubs to their “placements” (their name for clinical rotations), which, this semester, they’ve traded for trademark periwinkle UVA School of Nursing student scrubs. Exchange students for the fall 2025 semester at UVA Health through the School of Nursing’s Global Initiatives program, which offers spots to Australian students to come to UVA and for School of Nursing students to attend "U of Q" in Brisbane, Australia.

WHY THEY DID THE EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Cora: “I think it’s really important as a nurse, in healthcare, but also just as a person, to expose yourself to as many different environments as you can. I’ll learn coping things while I’m here, but also things to apply in practice that I can use to improve myself.”

Mel: “I’ve always wanted to have a classic American college experience like what you see in the movies: living in a college dorm, going to football games, frat parties, making friends you see on the weekend. Since being here, I’ve done all those things!”

Sage: “The biggest reason I came was to gain independence. I still live with my family at home; we all do. I also wanted to travel around the U.S. in general ... this summer, I went to Washington, D.C., and Orlando, FL, to see Disney World and Six Flags. I’ll be in New York at Christmastime.”

WHAT’S DIFFERENT IN THE U.S.

Charlotte: “There’s the living on campus that’s different — we all live at home — but the classes here are different, too. Back home, we do a lot of virtual classes; being in-person is optional, but here it’s not. The clinicals here are different, too — we call them placements — and the whole healthcare system is different, too. The students’ role is different here. Back home, we have a nurse as a buddy on the ward, and you follow their schedule. The clinical facilitator doesn’t hang around all day.”

Sage: “[As nursing students in Australia], you’re kind of independent. They kind of send you to a ward, and, though you work with a nurse, and an instructor who checks in on you from time to time, you’re by yourself most of the time. Students can do meds with anybody, as long as you’re with your nurse, but here, you have to have the clinical facilitator observe you."

“I also have a job as a CNA back home and work in patient transport. I definitely work a lot more than I go to school. Here, we’re all choosing not to work so we can enjoy our time.”

Alice: “I think the school spirit at UVA is really different ... everyone’s like, ‘Go Hoos!’, wears merch, goes to games ... back home, I never see anybody wearing UQ [University of Queensland] shirts. There’s no Mincer’s. People here are really proud to go to UVA. I think because students live here, it’s more about their life and their identity. I also work a CNA job and go to school and live at home, so UQ isn’t as central in my life.”

Poppy: “The food here is also really different. We went out on Sunday for a Southern-style dinner, biscuits, mac and cheese, fried chicken. When I was in New York, I really loved running in Central Park, taking the subway, eating bagels, and having matcha at Blank Street.

Mel: “A lot of the slang and humor we use people here don’t understand, either ... our humor is a little more crude, more sarcastic, more joke-y. It’s not bullying but more like light-hearted banter. I loved going to the Smithsonian’s Native American Museum in D.C., where I had some Native American food which was really, really good.”

SCHOOL IN ONE WORD?

Cora: “CONNECTED. It feels like the culture here does run deep, and people are proud to be here, and being here gives you so much connection to Grounds, and to others.”

Poppy: “SPIRITED. People come here from all over the country and they’re all very proud Hoos.”

Sage: “HOSPITABLE. TC [Senior Assistant Dean of Students Theresa Carroll) is the GOAT. I also don’t think I’ve met anyone who hasn’t been kind. TC also cooked a special dinner for us at her house, chicken and rice, peaches and ice cream. She’ll will introduce me to a random person here, who will say to me, ‘Oh, if you need anything send me a message! I’m happy to help out.’ Everyone’s been so willing to give you a hand, a ride to the shops, a ride to Monticello. Everyone’s been so nice.”