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Life After Pacific

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        My life since coming home from my study abroad has been nothing like I had expected. For starters, I was very nervous about coming home and seeing my friends and family. Before the Pacific Program, I had never been away from home this long. I thought my friends might have forgotten about me or that the dynamic in my friend group would feel different. I even thought that going to my own home would be different. Regardless, the desire to come home and be with loved ones trumped any nervous feelings I was feeling.         The trek home was long, tiresome, and emotionally draining. On the bus ride to the Fiji airport, music was blasting, and we were all loudly singing together. I couldn’t imagine not being with these people every day from here on out. These people in a sense had become my family over the course of the program, and we all have grown and experienced so much together. It wasn’t until we reached the airport that the reality of our final departures was settling in.
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Fiji Service Project

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            I will never forget the people I met during my time in Fiji. They were some of the kindest, and warm-hearted people I have had the pleasure of meeting. During the Sevu Sevu ceremony, Tae and I played with a few of the children from the village. It started out with a game of peek-a-boo and making silly faces. Then more and more children joined and before we knew it there was about twenty of them wanting to join in all of the fun. We ended the night with a game of duck duck goose, and the children told us how excited they were to see us at school the next day. We left that night with such an adrenaline rush from all the fun we had.             Early the next morning we arrived at the school, and I was more than eager to see all of the children. Before that would happen, we were tasked with painting the roofs of the school. This put me slightly on edge because I have a horrible fear of heights. I remember shaking as I wearily climbed up the ladder on to the creaky roof.
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Earth's Future: It's in Our Hands

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The pressure-filled slogan “the future is in our hands” can be daunting to our generation. We constantly hear about the threats of global warming and how mega companies are continuously destroying our rivers and oceans. We hear about epidemics of disease in countries that have been previously rid of them and massive violent outbreaks tearing countries apart. These problems seem so incredibly paramount that we are perplexed as to how we can even begin to approach these issues. There is another saying “out of sight, out of mind” that I believe explains perhaps why there have not been monumental strives in saving our environment. I for one have fallen victim to this predicament. It was not until studying abroad in Australia that I became aware of just how bad things were. I got the opportunity to stay in Heron Island which is an island on the Great Barrier Reef. I remember being thrilled to swim among beautiful coral and vibrant reef fish. My friends and I went
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Sevusevu Welcome Ceremony

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Last week, our program had the opportunity to visit a local village here in Fiji and partake in a welcome ceremony known as sevusevu. This ceremony is performed for visitors coming into and being accepted into the village by the village headman or Turaga ni Koro. Before we went inside for the ceremony, the Turaga ni Koro said a chant in order to announce our presence for the ceremony to begin. All of the students and staff then entered the building where the ceremony took place and removed our shoes before coming inside. We also all dressed moderately out of respect for the people of the village, and the Fijians were similarly wearing clothing that covered their shoulders and knees. We then all sat down on a woven mat before the Turaga ni Koro and the elder men from the village with Dr. Garton sitting before us as our representative. For this ceremony, a half bundle of waka is offered to the village which is the lower part of the same plant that produces kava. The Turaga ni
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Letter Home

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Snorkeling in Heron Island

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My absolute favorite part about Heron Island was snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. The statement itself sounds surreal to me, and I definitely never imagined I would ever be able to before I heard about this program. I remember the ferry ride to Heron Island was incredibly choppy, and I got seasick for the very first time. Once I saw the island from the ferry, I was immediately cured by the excitement that rushed over me. The water was a vibrant turquoise color and there was a huge shipwreck with snorkelers exploring all around it. I knew at that moment I could not wait to go out and snorkel. My friends and I chose to snorkel on the south side of the island for the first time mainly because of how close it was and we were just eager to get into the water. Before we even entered the water I saw a baby blacktip reef shark swimming around was thrilled because sharks are my favorite animal. Once we got in the ocean we saw huge cowtail stingrays lurking below us. I was scar
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The Sea and Me

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I love to swim swim swim Deep in the sea I love when the fish fish fish Are all around me The island life Can be quite nice Sand in my toes And that’s how it goes We saw baby turtles hatch More than just one batch They did their best to follow the moon But the mean seagulls got them too soon I love to swim swim swim Deep in the sea I love when the fish fish fish Are all around me I saw coral and sea stars Even a few gars But the sharks sharks sharks Were everywhere near and far I saw lemon sharks Reef sharks Even epaulette sharks I saw them out in the sea They were swimming with me I love to swim swim swim Deep in the sea I love when the fish fish fish Are all around me We were out on the Great Barrier Reef Too bad our time on Heron was oh so brief I am going to miss miss miss Swimming in the sea With all of the fish fish fish Swimming ‘round me
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