Transcript for the video embedded on the undergraduate study abroad page and the Ben Barrett profile page.
[Music playing]
[Aerial shot of rows of tropical trees.]
[Footage of Ben Barrett running along a beach carrying an Australian flag.]
[Ben Barrett walks on the University of Leeds campus, surrounded by buildings.]
Ben: Going on a year abroad was perhaps the primary driver behind me wanting to go to University.
[Ben appears facing the camera, with University buildings in the background. The name ‘Ben Barrett’ appears as text on the screen, alongside the University of Leeds logo.
Ben: I didn’t think that I would have the same opportunity if I didn’t attend University.
[Various wide and close up shots of Ben walking past buildings on the University of Leeds campus.]
Ben: I knew from the beginning when I first opened the prospectus that Leeds had a Study Abroad programme available to any student in the UK.
[Aerial footage, speeded up, of Ben walking on a green path, surrounded by greenery, on the University of Leeds campus.]
[Aerial footage of a group of people in a circle looking up.]
Ben: I think we all have this kind of projection in our head as to what Australia would be like. By and large, that’s fairly true. You think of beaches, you think of surfing, you think of barbecues on the beach. It certainly did live up to that expectation.
[A variety of shots including, green tropical trees, a turquoise sea and beach, people adding logs and sticks to a fire in a metal fire pit, and Ben jumping up in the air for a picture, on a vast white sandy beach, with mountains in the background.]
Ben: In and around Adelaide there were loads of things to be doing on the weekend.
[Ben walks past buildings on the University of Leeds campus and towards a set of steps.]
Ben: We were going to the mountains, to the beaches.
[Footage of a mountain range surrounded by forest and two waterfalls flowing down a rocky cliff.]
Ben: You make so many friends from all different countries.
[Ben walks up some steps on the University of Leeds campus.]
Ben: So just being able to spend some time with those guys and just to experience new things with them, really exciting new things is an opportunity that you wouldn’t necessarily get ever again if you don’t study abroad.
[Various shots, speeded up, of Ben sitting on the University of Leeds campus, overlooking a small lake, surrounded by buildings.]
[Speeded up footage of Ben walking along a corridor in a building at the University of Leeds.]
Ben: You learn so much in terms of skills and experiences when you're on your exchange because everything is just fundamentally so different to what you are used to.
[Footage of a turquoise sea and coastline with green vegetation and rockery.]
Ben: Confidence or resilience or independence moving forwards. These are all kind of really important skills that you need when you actually go into the working world.
[Various shots of Ben sitting in the Edit Room café on the University of Leeds campus having a drink and looking at a laptop, surrounded by other people.]
Ben: It was the first time that I'd become completely independent of everything else.
[A person on a sailboat on the sea, with the sun going down behind mountains in the background.]
Ben: You learn to embrace so many different cultures and whole new way of living. I don’t know necessarily that you are gonna be in that same scenario again where everything’s new and you’re pushed to the end of your comfort zone.
[Cutaway to Ben and another person on a sailboat.]
[Footage of a sailboat, sailing past mountains, with the sun setting in the background.]
[Ben stands in a line with several other people to pull a rope on a sailboat, with other people sat around watching.]
Ben: It helped me become more kind of confident in myself and just to be confident around other people who I had never met before.
[Back to Ben on the University of Leeds campus. Walking on campus and looking at study abroad trip photos on a laptop and smiling.]
Ben: I ended up having, definitely, the best year of my life.
[Ben smiles as he looks at a laptop.]
[A white box appears on a red background and then disappears to reveal the University of Leeds logo in white.]