Ellie
Steel

Ellie exploring Australia

How do you find your course specific facilities?
“NTU has great facilities on offer – for example during our ASOS menswear project, we used the Graphix scanner to engrave print onto our fabrics. Inspired by the results produced, I incorporated this technique into my final collection as my main source of print. To be able to have these sorts of resources to hand is just amazing.”

Can you tell us about your exchange to Australia?
“I studied Fashion Design and Drawing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia. The course involved fashion, textiles, visual merchandising, drawing and animation. The course gave me the ability to recognise and develop solutions to issues related to international fashion markets, as well as the current UK market. It also allowed me to develop my interpersonal skills, and learn how to handle new situations that take me out of my comfort zone.

“I have always wanted to visit Australia, so having the opportunity to study and live there was amazing. I met many other exchange students at RMIT socials who I would travel and explore Melbourne with during our weekends and spare time. We would regularly hit the beaches or support Melbourne in a local Aussie football match.

“One of my highlights from my time in Australia was a road trip to Tasmania during the Easter break with my exchange friends. We hired a couple of motorhomes and just took off on a tour of the island for a few days.

“Securing accommodation there was easy as there were a series of useful accommodation links on the RMIT website. I booked mine with one of the recommended accommodation suppliers.

“Despite being so far away from home, I was able to quickly adapt to the huge lifestyle change which gave me a real boost in confidence and independence. I also learnt to just enjoy myself and do and see everything I could!”