Chinese International Postgraduate Student, Wenbo Song, Reflects on his Sancta Journey
August 2018
Degree: Masters of Public Health, The University of Sydney
Arrived in Australia: January 2018
Departing Australia: December 2018
Road to Sancta
After completing my Bachelor of Public Health at Nanjing Medical University, I knew that USyd’s School of Public Health had been ranked number 1 in Asia-Pacific which led me to want to come to Sydney for my Masters. I met the previous Marketing and Development Manager, Michele Dunn, at the USyd Postgraduate Expo in Shanghai in 2017. She showed me photos of Graduate House and I really liked the modern layout and furniture throughout; it was more spacious and clean than many other international student options. The idea of not needing to worry about cooking and cleaning (as it is all provided) really appealled to me as I knew I would be very busy.
Sancta Highlights
Living at Sancta has allowed me to engage authentically with a lot of Australians; I’ve learned a lot about the culture and have found everyone to be very friendly. We are a diverse community with students from other countries as well, so I feel my cross-cultural communication has grown significantly as a result of living here. I don’t drink but that hasn’t stopped me from feeling welcome to attend social events with my friends and enjoy myself.
I’ve managed to fit in some travel up and down the east coast – a highlight has been my two trips to Queensland – once with a German friend from Uni, and another time with friends of my parents who live in Sydney.
Differences between life in China and Australia
My lifestyle here is not particularly different to in Nanjing, however I am loving being in this beautiful country and seeing and learning new things. The difficult part is being away from my parents and my cousins who I would see regularly in China.
Ambitions for the future
A career in Public Health can take many forms in China and other countries. I can work for NGOs, government organisations and in research roles for universities and industry bodies. I am interested in health economics and biostatistics and would like to forge a career that enables me to positively impact health outcomes for populations through my work.
I may go to another country after I complete my degree – possibly to Europe to do a Research Master.
Message to the Sancta community
Sancta’s leadership and the Graduate House student leaders create such a wonderful environment: they devote a lot of time and effort to our community and are always so supportive.
I want to thank-you everyone, especially my Postgraduate family. I very much enjoy staying with and look forward to seeing you again in the future.