Saturday, March 10, 2012

Final Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Report

Below is the introduction and conclusion to my Final Report--my last and final duty as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. And in turn, this will be my last and final blog as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar! Thank you so much for following me on my journey.



 “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.”   -Bill Bryson

            When I look back on my ten months as a Californian in Queensland, sponsored by the Rotary Foundation to obtain a Master’s Degree in International Public Health as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, the first thing that comes to mind is that Bill Bryson is so right! What I am most proud of for the year I lived in Australia, is that I took advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity of living almost as far away from home as possible, and traveled to see every unfamiliar bit of the Australasia region as possible. Because of this, I was able to see some of the greatest tourist destinations in the world all in about 10 months time: I stood on the crater’s edge of a live, erupting volcano in Vanuatu; I snorkeled with rainbow-colored fish at one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World—The Great Barrier Reef; I cooked tucker by a campfire, slept in a swag under The Southern Cross, and rested at billabongs while bushwalking through the Outback; I learned ancient traditions of growing rice, rode on the back of an elephant, and visited 1,000 year old villages and Hindu relics in Bali, Indonesia; I ate, drank, and laughed my way through the most beautiful and quaint metropolitan city I’ve ever visited—Sydney; I worked and sweated alongside local villagers across four remote islands in the Solomon Islands in order to improve community-wide access to safe water and children’s access to a proper education in villages still recovering from a devastating earthquake and tsunami from 2007; I drove in a glaring green and purple van up the most sickening and winding roads, to be rewarded with the most breathtaking vistas of New Zealand; and I lived as a local in sunny Brisbane, Queensland, where I grew to love hot tea with milk even on a “bloody” hot and humid day, the extremely early morning sunshine that gets you up and out of bed before your alarm goes off, and the strangers who became my best friends and family away from home.
Though arriving in the Southern Hemisphere—where I knew there would not be a single familiar face to greet me—was really intimidating at first, it was actually the unfamiliarity of it all, the newness and the changes, that turned out to be the most significant, exciting and influential aspects of living abroad as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar for the 2011 school year. The following words are my final report, which fulfill my final duties as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. I hope they convey how blessed and fortunate I feel to have been given this year to live abroad, to surprise myself with my own mental and physical strength and ability to be self-reliant, to broaden my worldviews, and to see everyday things as if for the first time all over again. 


When I left the U.S. for Australia, I was in tears. Then when I left Australia for the U.S., I was in tears. However, just as I knew when I left the U.S. I would certainly be back in a matter of months, I know I will certainly be back to Australia and to Rotary in a matter of years. I am grateful to everyone who made my year abroad possible—my parents for letting me go and for always being my biggest fans; my sponsor counselor, Russ Desch, for informing me of the scholarship, preparing me, and cheering me on the whole time I was there; my sponsor District 5230, for selecting me to represent the place that has always been my home; my host District 9600, for welcoming me and letting me get involved in their community; my host counselors, Brian and Cheryl Springer, for turning out to be friends for life; my RAWCS team leader in the Solomon Islands, Trevor Taylor, for letting me get involved in a life changing project; and every Rotarian, whose donations to The Rotary Foundation support the Ambassadorial Scholarship Program to allow students like me to achieve our dreams and broaden our minds.


Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Leaning forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies


I went through the motions of leaving my apartment, saying goodbye to my closest Aussie friends, and sitting at the airport and through the whole 15 hour flight home, with none of it feeling real until I landed and was back on the other side of the Pacific. Doug--the boy who waited with me at LAX to send me off to Australia--was the same exact boy waiting for me at LAX upon my arrival. At least there was a familiar face to greet me- something I could start getting used to again! 


Ridiculously delusional and jet lagged, I remember walking out to Doug's car from the International Terminal, and without realizing it, I waited for Doug to let me into his car on the left side of the car--the side that would have been the passenger's side of the car in Australia, but was the driver's side in the U.S. The realization of that little mistake finally triggered my first few tears about leaving Australia. In that moment, I was finally having to face the fact that "home," the place that should be the epitome of comfort and familiarity, was now the foreign land I was going to have to start anew in.

There were some weird changes to get used to being back in the US and jumping from Summer into Winter, but after lots of hugs from family and lifelong friends, a belly full of In-n-Out, and seeing my childhood house glowing with Christmas lights, "home" began to slowly feel more and more like home again. 



I believe this quote by Kerouac best describes the juxtaposition of all my feelings about my year in Australia coming to a close: my sadness and shock of leaving Australia, and then that moment you just accept that one chapter of your life has closed and another one is opening whether you like it or not, and now the excitement I feel for the new life changes and adventures to come.
"What is the feeling when you’re driving away from people, and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? It is the too huge world vaulting us, and its goodbye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies." 

I am sitting here writing this reflective blog post 10 weeks later now, and I must admit I still feel unsettled, unsure, and uncertain about life and being back here at times. I am working hard to find the job that will lead me to the career of my dreams, and I am working hard at trying to figure out where I want to be and where I fit into this big world; but despite the uneasiness of right now, I am EXCITEDLY "lean[ing] forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies," knowing I have grown and learned so much all because of my "year in Brisbane, Australia."

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

UQ Graduation

I spent my last day in Australia walking in my graduation ceremony! It was the perfect way to wrap up the year. I was lucky enough to have an entire fan club there for me--Brian, Cheryl, AND two of my oldest friends from home, Chelsea and Louis. 


Australia really knows how to "do" graduation right! The ceremony was short and sweet (under an hour! Woohoo!), they streamed it live online so my parents could watch it back in the US, and they had free finger food, champagne, and other drinks afterward. Very nice!





The brick arches and hallways at UQ reminded me of my other alma mater--UCLA!


The formal graduation garb is very different in Australia than in the US. These blue hoods were extremely tough to keep on my shoulders, but the blue hoods showed who was receiving their Master's and the white hoods showed who was receiving a Bachelor's degree. The hats were also different--the base of the hat was stiff and actually easier to keep on my head than our cloth ones.


Before the ceremony


My fan club


The graduate--of Hogwarts? Or the University of Queensland?


Inside the auditorium--UQ's colors are obviously purple (and gold)!


The processional for the Aussie ceremony reminded me of a Catholic church mass a bit!


We topped off the day with a final trip to the top of Mt. Coot-tha!


After the trip to Mt. Coot-tha, I had to face the goodbye I was avoiding most--saying goodbye to Brian and Cheryl. Luckily, I had already gotten all the tears out at my final presentation to Brian's Rotary club, but still it wasn't easy. Before I knew it, my my two big bags were packed (luckily I had already sent home two other full bags with Doug and my parents!!), my room was cleared out and emptied, and I was crammed on Morgan's lap hitching the scariest and most unpleasant ride in a 2-seater Jeep for my last trip to the Brisbane airport. 

Goodbye, Australia!!!!!!!