Education Abroad

Program Overview

During the summer between by sophomore and junior years, I travelled to New Zealand on what was known as the “Sustaining Human Societies and the Environment” education abroad program. For 4 weeks, myself and 17 other students and professors travelled around the South Island of the island nation that the Maori people call “Aotearoa”. This name translates to “land of the long white cloud,” which is reminiscent of one of the many legends surrounding its discovery. New Zealand is known for the tagline, “100% Pure,” and the idea of eco-tourism, which claims to be a sustainable form of tourism that doesn’t sacrifice income from tourists for environmental protection. We studied the concept of “sustainability” by meeting with locals, business owners, farmers, and tourists to get an idea of how accurate this picture is.

Pre-Departure Reflection

During the week leading up to my departure, I became increasingly aware of all of the ways that I would be going out of my comfort zone during this trip; I would be in close quarters with a bunch of people I don’t know well, past injuries and being out of shape overall would restrict my mobility, and I would be conquering one of my greatest fears: heights. I was honestly terrified and almost convinced myself a few times that I should just bail; I could always just read about sustainability in New Zealand from the comfort of my bed if I really wanted to. Instead, I pushed past the feelings of discomfort and hopped on a plane at 6am set for San Francisco, where I would be meeting up with the rest of the group.

Me conquering my fear of heights — by jumping from a height of 134 m

While Abroad Reflection

Every day, from the moment I woke up at 5am to falling asleep generally past midnight after a long day of meetings, lectures, or field visits, felt like I was riding one long rush of adrenaline. Physical exhaustion was a state that I became accustomed to pretty early on in the month but it was worth it for everything that I was able to experience.

A different kind of reflection; a view of Mounts Tasman and Cook overlooking Lake Matheson during our sunrise walk

While I had painted this picture of New Zealand being a haven of environmental and cultural progress from everything that I had read pre-departure, I quickly learned that like every nation, New Zealand has its own set of problems. This includes social inequality between the Maori people and Kiwis of European descent and retreating glaciers, which are landmarks of the South Island and results from changing climate. One thing that struck me as being very different was how the entire country seeks to make itself a tourist destination. From larger cities, such as the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown, to the smaller, more quaint towns such as Kaikoura, every place that we visited is known for something. The emphasis that the nation places on tourism is not surprising when you learn that this industry is the second economic sector in the nation, behind agriculture. A zip-lining worker we spoke to in Queenstown had very mixed thoughts about the emphasis on tourism, mentioning that while there are plenty of hotels and hostels many of the workers cannot afford to live in the few permanent housing neighborhoods in the city and have 1+ hour commutes to work.

During the final week of the program, we worked on our final project that focused on the following question: “Is New Zealand as sustainable as the nation claims?” After looking at sustainability from three different perspectives (ecological, economic, and cultural), we all came to the conclusion that true sustainability cannot be achieved with the current model that the tourism industry uses. Every decision requires making sacrifices in at least one of the three sectors and not everyone/everything will benefit.

After Return Reflection

While it was disheartening to learn that the country that I was so excited to visit due to the “100% Pure” idea that surrounds the tourism industry is not as pure as we were led to believe, the overall experience was perhaps one of the greatest of my life. Getting to meet so many interesting people and see breathtaking views made May 2017 so incredibly memorable. The experiences and jokes that all of us shared (bing bong, if any of my NZ friends are reading this) brought 18 strangers together and bonded us in a way that only we can understand, leading to friendships that I hope will last a lifetime.

Looking out over the Pacific Ocean from Kaikoura

Studying abroad was probably one of the best things that I have ever done for myself. My time in New Zealand led to me discovering my affinity for invasion ecology, meeting some of my best friends, and understanding more about how other cultures interact with the environment. For the first time in years, my mind felt at peace, even though we were constantly on the move. I wouldn’t trade my time participating in this program for anything and am counting down the days until I am able to return to Aotearoa.