Oct 03, 2017

Blog by Raya Zaharieva, Bulgaria

Raya Zaharieva, was the winner of the 2017 New Horizons Sweepstakes competition. The prize was the opportunity to select 1 of 6 locations around the world, to complete a study program of their choice.

The Most Amazing Trip in My Life!

The travel from Sofia to Sydney was around 22 hours, with one stop in Doha. It was very long, but when I arrived, I knew that it was worth it.

I arrived in Sydney on Sunday evening and I checked into my hotel. The hotel was perfect and very near to the New Horizons Learning Centre Building in Sydney, where l would be attending the ITIL course.

In the morning, I managed to arrive to the course in 5 minutes’ as it was a close walk, from my hotel. I was a bit worried what to expect there, I was afraid that I would not manage to understand everything, because this was my first time studying abroad with people who speaks different language than Bulgarian. However, when I arrived and met all the people in the center all my fears were blown away. Everything was perfectly arranged and I felt very comfortable. The teacher Simon was very nice to us, and really made the course fun and engaging. He gave us many good examples from his real-life experiences, from his previous work, so this was the most interesting part of the course.

On the first day of the course Christine invited my sister and I (who travelled with me) to go for a drink at the Sydney Opera House.

We used the public transport, which was very easy to use, and after 10 minutes, I saw the magnificent Sydney Opera House and the marvelous bridge. We had amazing time together, and I felt very good from all the attention that I got.

After 3 days of learning, it came time to take my exam. I was a bit nervous but fortunately, all the learning and good teaching payed back. As English was my second language, I also got an extra 15 minutes to sit the exam. I passed!

After the course ended, I had 3 days off in Sydney for fun and exploring. My sister and me went to the Tarango Zoo, Blue Mountains and got to see in the Opera house. We also made it to two of the most famous beaches in Sydney – Manly beach, and Bondi beach.

I had really really good time in Australia. Unfortunately, just for one week, but I promised myself to come back one day, because this city became my favorite place for holiday. Who knows maybe to live and study full time .  

Watch the video to hear first hand from Raya about her trip.

Thank you, New Horizons, for making my dream come true.

Love Raya.

If you're interested in studying in Australia, check out our International Student Study program.