Sydney Opera House
Before my first year of high school, I was offered the opportunity to go on a People to People Ambassador trip to Australia. This particular picture was taken by me and it shows the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in front of a sunset. I selected this trip as a whole to be an artifact that represents me as a person because of how influential this event was in my life. The trip lasted three weeks but required months of preparation beforehand. I met dozens of new people and while being literally on the opposite side of the world with around 40 almost-strangers without my parents was just a bit daunting for younger me, it was one of the best experiences in my life.
This trip taught me more about the world than any classroom setting could have. I realized that this wasn’t going to be vacation when right after flying for around 25 hours we were immediately herded to a bus and set out for our first destination. This destination turned out to be a small zoo of sorts where we interacted with various animals and learned about the Australian culture.
The biggest takeaway I got from this trip was to be open to new things. I had never really been opposed to going outside my comfort zone, but neither did I go out of my way to try new and potentially unpleasant things. This event in my life really opened me up to new experiences and all the good things that can come out of trying new things, even if they don’t always turn out for the best. One part of the trip involved living with a native Australian for two days with a small group of other kids on the trip. Being already tepid towards the idea of sharing a hotel room with a few other participants of the program, living with a stranger seemed like something I did not want to do at all. Turns out, the family I stayed with was very nice and I got along just fine there, even being sad to leave. This really opened my eyes to see how other people in other parts of the world live.
I can bring all the skills I learned during my time in Australia forward with me throughout my entire entire life. The skills learned also apply to all aspects of my life because they didn’t consist of hands-on or mental skills (mostly), but rather were cultural and social skills that worked to make me a more well-rounded individual as well as a more cosmopolitan member of the world community.
Going to Australia for three weeks was certainly tough, but it was very rewarding and those three weeks gave me more world experience than any textbook could. I look back fondly on my memories of this trip and look forward to hopefully returning one day to further my development as a student of the world.
Me holding a baby alligator