Hello! My name is Sebastian and soon I will be embarking on a trip to the other side of the world, where I’ll be sending a semester abroad at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. Even though I already study abroad from my home town in Bogota, Colombia, Rollins gave us all the opportunity to travel even further in the world, and I could not refuse the chance to go even further abroad.
My older sister took a semester abroad in Australia as well, and after three years of hearing about what a great time she had there, I finally have the chance to experience it myself. All that is standing in my way now is 32 hours of travel, taking me from Colombia to Chile, then hopping over the puddle with a 15 hour flight (talk about long distances). From there on, it’s only a short 5 hours of waiting in airports while I fly from Sydney to Brisbane, and then to our final destination for our first week Down Under, which we’ll spend in Cairns with the TEAN group. TEAN is a program partnered with Rollins to make sure that everyone who travels to New Zealand and Australia gets to enjoy their time and have some support from locals that know the lay of the land. I can’t wait to get going, even if that does mean saying goodbye to my family. We’re used to it, as I do this every semester when flying up to Orlando.
As a Marine Bio student, Australia is a mecca that I’ve wanted to visit for as long as I can remember. One of the main reasons I chose this trip with the TEAN group is the fact that we will be getting to dive in the Great Barrier Reef, a natural wonder that has been struggling to survive now for some time. If I don’t go now to see it, it might not still be there next time I get the chance. Apart from that, I am genuinely excited to see a lot of what Australia has to offer, ranging from the Sydney Opera house to their famed beaches, as well as getting to travel to the Outback and maybe even seeing some kangaroos in the wild! Regardless, I know that whatever I do it’ll be an amazing adventure and I can’t wait to get started.