Study Abroad Reflection—Australia Summer 2010

While getting on to the plane headed for Australia, scared wasn’t a strong enough word to describe my emotions. Of course the excitement of anticipation was mixed into the thoughts speeding through my mind, however, fear of the unknown seemed to triumph the positive. I had no idea I was about to embark on a journey that will change my perspective on the world and on myself.
So many fabulous adventures took place during my time in Australia. The program I was in consisted of 16 students from different universities all across the United States and two professors, one from Long Island University and the other an Australian native that resided in Cairns. We spent three weeks on three different islands staying at University driven research stations. On each island we learned the ecology through journeys with our professors. We created research questions, developed an experiment, ran the experiment, analyzed the data collected and presented our completed projects to the class the night before we left for the next island. In between our data collections we were free to explore the islands by ourselves, either through hikes, snorkel trips or boat trips out to the flats. We stayed one week on each island and spent the remainder of time in various towns up the coast during our travels to the different research stations.
The research stations were fabulous accommodations. I seemed to find myself being slightly more adventurous than I believed myself to have been. There were numerous (too many for me to count) occasions when I found something interesting and it was quickly followed by “Michele, put that down it’s poisonous”. I discovered some instinctive survival skills (or my Man vs. Wild obsession finally paid off) after a couple of classmates and I got lost on Orpheus island for 5 hours when we decided to hike up the mountain without the trail just to get to the highest point of the island (yea I scaled a coconut tree for water and a tasty treat). I mingled with folks shooting a series for national geographic. (highlight of my trip to Straddie island by far was helping identifying fish caught on film!!!...Well I was hogging the field guide in attempt to memorize as many species of fish as possible). I went on night snorkels, chased down sharks, came face to face with the biggest sea turtle I have ever laid eyes on, snorkeled in stingray infested waters and completed research projects on the most amazing natural wonder of the world. As much fun as I had on my adventures on the islands, I believe the moments that impacted me the most was the exploring of historical cities and finding the courage to strike up conversations about Australian culture and history with locals (especially on Straddie). North Stradebroke Island’s population mostly consisted of aboriginal peoples. While it is mostly against their beliefs to share too much information about their culture with those not related, I was able to learn enough to understand where they came from and their current day struggles.
I learned more in Australia than I planned. Yes, I was ready to learn a new culture. I knew I would encounter more species of marine life than I knew existed. I knew the adventures would last forever in my memories. What I did not expect was the discovering of the new me. A me that was always there and fighting to come out but never had the courage to break through. I found the excitement that can occur when I step out of my comfort zone. When I break free from a pack and discover the world by myself whether it was wondering off on an island to find an echidna or striking up a conversation with a complete stranger. The new adventurous slightly less afraid and extremely more confident me will serve well in the upcoming adventures of my life.