Thanks to CAPA Sydney, I was provided the opportunity to intern with the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS of the Australian Rules Football League (AFL). My role with the GIANTS is that of a Membership & Ticketing Intern. The role involves making and taking outbound and inbound calls to current and prospective members to gauge their interests in purchasing season-long memberships for the franchise’s upcoming season. 

I typically work with the GIANTS on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays each week. The GIANTS headquarters are in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park which can be an hour to an hour and a half commute from my suite in the Oaks Goldsbrough Apartments. 

On a working day, I leave my room at 7:30 AM and walk over to the “Convention” light rail station outside the apartment. The light rails in Sydney are a relatively new mode of transportation. It’s like an above-ground subway but a lot slower! After riding the light rail to Central Station I hop onto the T1 train to Lidcombe Station and then from there get onto the T7 Olympic Park direct train line. After pulling into the Olympic Park Station it’s a ten-minute walk to GIANTS headquarters. I typically can get to headquarters by 8:45 AM as long as I don’t miss any connections.

This commute is nothing like what I experience at Pitt! There aren’t any trains or light rails in Oakland and most of my commuting at Pitt is either with my own two feet or by the 10A bus.

Although my trip is long, I enjoy taking the trains in Sydney. They’re pretty clean and comfortable and as long as I have headphones the ride to work doesn’t feel as long. One thing that I absolutely hate about my commute is the occasional impossible connection time between the Olympic Park line and the Lidcombe line. Especially when I’m coming home from work, these two trains often leave just as the other one arrives. If I don’t run from the Olympic train to the Lidcombe train, then I’ll have to wait another 15-20 minutes for the next train to come.

For students that come to Sydney in the future, I would highly recommend downloading the Opal App for your smartphone. The Opal App is associated with the cards we receive from CAPA that provide us our free transportation. The app can help you plan a very accurate trip to whatever location you want to go to. It will tell you precise times for train, bus, light rail, and ferry travel. I would also recommend taking advantage of the Opal card you’re given. You get free transportation as long as you’re within three hours of Sydney. Go explore the city you’re living in because free transportation is an opportunity you probably won’t get anywhere else. Great suburbs and beaches are only a train or ferry ride away.