From the Big Easy to the Swiss Peaks: My Journey at ZHAW

I studied abroad at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and would recommend this program for students who want to get out of their comfort zone and explore the entirety of Switzerland.

People study abroad for a variety of reasons, and personally, I wanted a change from the commotion of New Orleans and to travel to a place where I could experience nature. Switzerland has incredible public transportation, which makes it easy to visit remote destinations all over the country for hiking, swimming, paragliding and skiing.

The country itself is small–only 3 hours across–so day trips are doable. Furthermore, Switzerland’s location is ideal for traveling to surrounding countries. On a given Wednesday, I would travel with friends to Austria or France for the day!

Other than being highly regarded for its scenery, Switzerland is also known for being very expensive. While this is true, I found it relatively easy to budget and save by cooking meals at the dorms (most students live in the ZHAW international student housing) and buying a monthly transportation pass.

Something to note is that ZHAW is located in a suburb of Zurich called Winterthur (20 minutes outside of the city). While initially I was disappointed by this, I learned to love this little town - there are street markets, Christmas markets and little festivals all the time, and the town center looks straight out of a storybook.

Overall I would say that anyone who is looking for a break from the party atmosphere at Tulane would enjoy going abroad through ZHAW!

Zoe Hill (BSM ’24)