CEA CAPA WORLD

Shayanna Roman is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2017, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Public Relations major and Art minor at SUNY New Paltz, she is studying abroad in Sydney this semester.

In her first post, Shayanna gives us the do's and don't of preparing to study abroad.

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Hello lovely readers! I’m currently writing this as I sit on my connecting flight to LA, where I will have a 12 hour layover (keep an eye out for a future post about that). Right now, I am utterly exhausted and stressed, but still excited nonetheless to finally be embarking on my journey to Sydney!

However, despite my excitement, to say my trip has started out rough would be an understatement. So today, I want to talk about some major don’ts for departing on your trip to hopefully help you avoid some of the mishaps I’ve experienced so far.

1. Don’t: wait to pack until the last minute like I did.

It is a way more work than you think, and if you’re like me, it will take a while to finish. I never knew true regret until I was up at midnight last night sifting through mountains of unfolded clothes, shoes and open suitcases. Seriously, don’t do that to yourself. You don’t need that in your life.

Photo: why am I like this…

Shayanna Roman is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2017, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Public Relations major and Art minor at SUNY New Paltz, she is studying abroad in Sydney this semester.

In this week's post, Shayanna talks about what it's like to miss important events at home while abroad.

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Welcome back, readers!

My time in Australia is nearly done, and while I’ll be sad to leave this beautiful country, I’m also happy that I’ll be back in New York soon. I’ve recently been experiencing a great deal of homesickness. I’ve lived away on campus for my entire college career so I never thought I’d be one to get homesick but I was definitely proven wrong.

Even though I was only home for a day before I flew to Sydney as I had just moved out of my dorm room at my college, I didn’t experience any type of homesickness for the first few weeks. It hit me really unexpectedly while I was on Facebook the other day. I was just scrolling down my newsfeed when I came across a video on my brother’s timeline from Father’s Day weekend. He and his wife had a gender reveal party in our backyard with all of our friends and family. They were holding a bag full of either pink or blue balloons, asking everyone to guess whether they thought the baby was going to be a boy or a girl. To my surprise, blue balloons came flying out of the bag. I was convinced the baby was going to be a girl!

Photo: my brother and his wife at the gender reveal party…It’s a boy!

Shayanna Roman is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2017, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Public Relations major and Art minor at SUNY New Paltz, she is studying abroad in Sydney this semester.

In this week's post, Shayanna talks about her role at her internship placement, Mashay.

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Hey, CAPA fam! Welcome back to my blog.

Photo: Tank Stream Labs, where Mashay and several other startups share office space and work alongside each other as they grow their companies.

I’ve officially been interning for Mashay, an up-and-coming social media app, for over a week now and already have so much to share with you. To start off, Mashay is an app that aims to connect users with other likeminded individuals by providing a platform that offers unique local activities in Sydney that can be shared with large groups of people. These experiences range from wine crafting to live music events to axe-throwing and are all in collaboration with local businesses throughout the city. Mashay’s experiences deviate from the typical mainstream activities that pop up when you do a Google search, allowing users to really get an authentic feel for Sydney’s lifestyle- or as we would say, #mashout like the locals. The app is set to launch sometime next week which is really exciting! I’m glad to have started at such an integral time.

Shayanna Roman is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2017, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Public Relations major and Art minor at SUNY New Paltz, she is studying abroad in Sydney this semester.

In this week's post, Shayanna talks about her biggest challenges: budgeting, grocery shopping, and transportation.

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Hello from Down Under, readers! After last week’s multiple pre-departure fiascos and (surprisingly) not so terrible 12 hour layover in LAX, I’ve arrived in beautiful Sydney, Australia and I have to say, I’m in love with this city. The scenic views, friendly people, and great food have me seriously considering moving here in the future if possible. However, there have inevitably been some challenges getting used to life in this global city.

Photo: I still can’t believe I work near here!

So far, I’ve gotten lost more times than I can count, had an existential crisis while grocery shopping and spent an absurd amount of money eating out. I was nowhere near prepared for the cost of living in such an expensive city. After only one week of constantly eating out at several of Sydney’s delicious restaurants with my new friends, it started taking a heavy toll on my wallet. I knew I had to start cooking in order to budget my money better, otherwise I’d be broke within two weeks.

Shayanna Roman is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2017, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Public Relations major and Art minor at SUNY New Paltz, she is studying abroad in Sydney this semester.

In her last post, Shayanna reflects on her time abroad and how it has made her a happier and more confident person.

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Welcome to my last blog, readers!

It’s certainly been a crazy six weeks living Down Under.

Photo: Coogee to Bondi Coastal Walk

Shayanna Roman is an official CAPA blogger for summer 2017, sharing her story in weekly posts on CAPA World. A Public Relations major and Art minor at SUNY New Paltz, she is studying abroad in Sydney this semester.

In this week's post, Shayanna tells us 10 of her favorite places to eat in Sydney, with a focus on dessert.

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Hi, Readers! Welcome to my Top 10 Sydney Eats post! Disclaimer: this list is not in any type of ranked order and it is mostly dessert.

1. The Local Mbassy

If you’re craving something different for breakfast or dessert, check out The Local Mbassy. They have a unique twist on so many of their menu options. They have red velvet lattes, red velvet waffles and pancakes, and much more.