As I am back home and reflect back on my 21-day journey in Melbourne Australia I must say that I am extremely grateful for all the cherished moments and created memories. This was my first time ever being abroad and I must say that I had the time of my life. Aussie will always have such a special place in my heart. Weeks 1 through 3, I would call it a moment of finding myself and purpose. That was my goal and I totally feel like I have accomplished it.
I arrived to Australia on Saturday May 7, 2016 and my birthday is on May 8th so being able to start a new chapter of life in a new country was so profound for me. It was a dream come true. Talk about finding myself… That was something I got an opportunity to do. I am a wife and a mother of two who juggles both work and full time school so on my typical day to day schedule, there is rarely quiet “Me” moments to be quite honest. This study abroad gave me an opportunity to explore my inner self and dig deep inside of me. Gave me a chance to find the strong woman inside of me and truly get to know her which I would say was extremely important for both personally and professionally development. That was the most valuable gift I could receive for the start of year 24.
Out of all the time that I have been studying at The Ohio State University, I never took a Social Work course before this and honestly I have always thought of “Social Work” as negative based on my childhood of being in a lower social economic status and the challenges my mother was faced with in regards to social workers. However, this course has changed my thinking completely for the better.
After being able to talk with my cohorts who are in undergrad and graduate level social work programs and to learn their perspectives and see what they are doing in the field, I have grown a level of interest within the field of social work. Also, being able to explore different aspects of social work within Melbourne, Australia and getting an opportunity to learn new things people around the world are doing to make the difference in other people’s life was a fresh breath of new air.
All of the agencies that we were able to visit such as VACCA, Anglicare, Mind, BeyondBlue, and Lighthouse just to name a few showed me the importance of social work and how dedicated organizations with awesome visions and heart based workers can create such a positive movement of helping families better themselves.
The three-day camping trip to the Great Ocean Road was a time for personal development. Definitely something I would have never planned for myself but something that I am ever so grateful for having. Being able to see and embrace the true beauty of nature and letting go of my fears as I mediated on top of a hill in the wild where Kangaroos walked passed; was the moment that I found HER… Her meaning the REAL me!! 
My cohorts pushed me to keep going even at times when I felt the walk was either too long or too hard. Those were moments that I seen the strength that I truly had inside. I felt so POWERFUL walking away from that. Standing looking at the 12 Apostles 
and just seeing this HUGE body of water in front of me flowing so beautiful was when it totally hit me that my focus of life should be more on the journey instead of the destination in order to truly take in moments like these. Katie, our tour guide said something so profound. She asked if we could put our phones away for a second while we were standing on top of a mountain watching the sun set. She explained why. She stated “sometimes we get so caught in trying to capture the moments for everyone else through pictures and social media that you walk away from it and never got the chance to first capture and embrace the moment for yourself.” Wow… How profound is that.
So, as I conclude I must say that this study abroad opportunity gave me the chance to figure out my purpose in life in which I can say I have found that social worker inside of ME! I am ready to not let my past push me away from my purpose, but to let my purpose make a difference so that families won’t have to experience horrible social workers like my family once did in my past! I am ready… I am motivated… I thank OSU Study Abroad.
Studying Abroad was always a dream I had. And its within that dream that I found myself and my purpose. Australia has showed me awesome things that will be long life tools for my inner toolbox. So thank you Aussie!
I live for moments like this…
~ Taja Tolliver
