OXFORD, Miss. – When University of Mississippi senior Brittany McGowan of Brentwood, Tenn., 37027, gets her bachelor’s degree in marketing communications in May, her resume will reflect an impressive entry from her study abroad last spring semester.
McGowan spent five months in Sydney, Australia, where she earned 12 academic credit hours at Macquarie University and interned at Niche Marketing Group, all counting toward her degree in UM’s School of Business Administration.
McGowan’s courses were in management and marketing, and Australian media, while her internship involved planning and coordinating fashion shows.
“Many of my events for my internship had me leaving my apartment as early as 5 a.m., and the event would last all day – totally worth it but very draining when trying to accomplish three other classes as well,” McGowan said.
A highlight for McGowan was helping coordinate a fashion show at a pavilion in Sydney’s Hyde Park.
“The event was hosted for 60 of Australia’s fashion editors of magazines, including InStyle and Cosmo,” she said. “It was a very hectic day, with set-up changes and learning positions, but I had so much fun interacting with the models and the designers of the two newly launched swimsuit labels.”
Upon her arrival in Sydney, McGowan was immediately impressed with the country’s landscape.
“As we landed, we could see the breathtaking scene of Sydney harbor out the window,” she said.
Any culture shock that awaited her was lessened, thanks to a new friend she met on the flight.
“The flight was a bit rough and it was very packed, but fortunately, I sat by a native Aussie from the capital of Australia, Canberra,” she said. “He was a surfer and attended a local college, Wollongong. During the 14-hour flight, he explained everything I should do and definitely not do while in Australia, and other things, such as differences in language and etiquette.”
She learned, for example, that people of authority should be addressed by their first name and that the word “hey” is not polite when trying to get a person’s attention.
“Also, Australians tend to mumble their words together in phrases, and words like ‘fortnight’ – or two weeks – and ‘cheers’ and ‘keen’ became a second language for me,” she said.
Traveling around the country and learning to surf were high on McGowan’s itinerary. She took surfing lessons at Seven Mile Beach with a large group of other visiting students.
“I also traveled to New Zealand, where I skydived and bungee jumped at over 400 feet,” she said. “My friends and I were followed and photographed and filmed to be featured in New Zealand’s tourism campaign.”
Another interesting and “very eye-opening experience,” she said, was her trip to Bali, Indonesia, for spring break.
“I had never been to a country that could be so poor and so affluent at the same time,” she said.
McGowan is slated to graduate in May 2011 and is planning for a career in marketing. Her dream job, she said, is to work with Country Music Television.
A 2007 graduate of Brentwood Academy, McGowan said she decided to attend Ole Miss after visiting and “falling in love with the campus and football games.”
“I liked the fact that it was an SEC school and wasn’t as big as UT or Alabama, but was the exact college atmosphere I wanted to experience.”
She is the daughter of David and Roxane McGowan of Brentwood.
Each year, UM’s Study Abroad Office sends around 600 students abroad offering programs in more than 80 countries covering Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.
For more information on Study Abroad programs at UM, go to
http://www.outreach.olemiss.