spotlight on honors

honors students abroad

LUKE - AUSTRALIA

Sophomore, ELEMENTARY EDUCATION major

JANUARY 2011

My name is Luke Hollin. I am a sophomore elementary education major and I am studying abroad at the University of Wollongong in Wollongong, Australia. It is right along the eastern coast and just an hour and twenty minutes south of Sydney. I chose this country because I want to learn more about it's culture since it is not discussed much in American classes. Australia has a diverse wildlife that I want to experience as well. It has been a life long dream of mine to snorkel/scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef which I will get an chance to do for orientation. I have some general education classes left for my major that I can get fulfilled over there so it will help be beneficial academically as well as a great experience. I know I'm going to have a blast and create a lot of memories.

FEBRUARY 2011

The first week in Australia has been great to say the least. The people here are so nice and friendly and I find it really refreshing. We did all sorts of activites that I could only dream of before. I held a koala and fed a kangaroo one day, went on a croc watch tour another, volunteered by planting trees, and scuba dived on the Great Barrier Reef. A couple interesting facts about Australia: They don't drink fosters, they drive on the left side of the road, and they even have a KFC which really surprised me lol. Now I get to look forward to how my first week at the University of Wollongong will go.

Here I am doing an aboriginal tribal dance and represent America proudly lol.

Here I am feeding the iconic animal of Australia – the Kangaroo. They were very friendly.

MARCH 2011

February 26, 2011, was one of the greatest birthdays I ever had and will not soon forget. First of all I was with a great group of people and I want to thank them sincerely for a great time. Second I was in Sydney freaking Australia!  We saw all sorts of beautiful gardens and trees and fountains, and cathedrals, and monuments, and Bats! Oh my gosh, I was geeking out when I saw all the flying foxes aka fruit bats! There were sooooo many of them and they flew like falcons. I got some awesome pictures in front of the Sydney Opera House and let me just say, it was so amazing even witnessing that thing. I mean you see pictures of it, you see it in movies, but to actually be there right next to it was amazing. I bought myself some presents of course. I bought a hat made of kangaroo leather and a boomerang naturally lol. We ate dinner and then we went back to the harbor to see the Harbor Bridge and Opera House at night. We walked that bridge like none other lemme tell ya. Needless to say the view was spectacular and the pictures are so cool. As we were walking back, fireworks started shooting off from the harbor so we got a bird's eye view of them and we all were just in awe, it's like this was a dream and we didn't wanna wake up. One of the greatest nights of my life and a birthday I will never forget.

There’s the famous Harbor Bridge in the background. Some friends and I walked across that bridge at least four times!

The architecturally amazing Sydney Opera House, with yours truly standing in front of it.

There’s one of the Flying Foxes that I was geeking out about! Favorite animal since kindergarten right there.

The beautiful Sydney Skyline at night. I took this while standing on the Harbor Bridge.

Me and my friends at a pub in Sydney enjoying some Fish n’ Chips and Steak strip burgers.

The Sydney Opera House at night. Later on they threw a firework show from the harbor just for my birthday lol.

APRIL 2011

Well I’m finally starting to get used to living here. I went through a period of homesickness a while ago, mostly because it was raining all week and I was soooo bored. However I’ve moved past that and now I truly feel like a resident with normal routines and way of life. The weather has not been too great. Every morning it’s really sunny and then as soon as you get out of class, it’s heavy overcast and not a shred of sunlight in sight. There have honestly only been a couple of days where it’s been truly beautiful. However to keep myself occupied I’ve done all sorts of things. I’ve been to a zoo, a wildlife park, the white sand beaches of Jervis bay, Nan Tien Temple which is the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere, and hiking up a mountain a couple times. This is such a fun country and the people here are so nice. Between the healthy food and all the activity, I’ve been getting in much better shape. Next week I will be going to The Gold Coast for “Spring Break” and that should be a blast. We plan to hit the beach as much as possible with the weather hopefully being better and we do have a mountain/glowworm cave tour which I’m looking forward to. Well that about does it for me, I have to go to dinner soon. I hope you all are doing well and I shall talk to you soon!

Cheers,
Luke

A wild echidna I found.

Feeding some roos at Featherdale Wildlife Park

Ambushed by emus!

The white sands of Jervis Bay

Nan Tien Temple

My friends and I at Nan Tien Temple

A lighthouse in Wollongong

MAY 2011

This month has been fairly uneventful. I have had several papers do this month so most of my time has been spent on them. They grade so harshly here. It's actually very good to get a 70 but it is extremely rare to get an 80 or above. I can’t wait to get back to America and receive good grades again.

I have gotten to do some fun things. I went to an International Market where I got my face painted. It was really funny because I was standing in line with a bunch of little kids but I didn’t care. I also went to this place called The Kiama Blowhole which is along the coast and when waves crash into this rocky cliff area, there’s a hole where the water shoots up out of and it gets really high. One night I went to a club with some friends and it was fun. Believe it or not there are several people from Indiana here. There are four people from IU, two people from Hanover, and then me and my roommate Brandon who are from ISU.

Now we mark the final month of my stay here. I’m really looking forward to seeing my friends and family, but I’ll really miss all the friends I’ve made here. I’m really proud of myself for coming out of my shell and just going out and talking to people, Americans and Australians alike. Everyone here is so nice and it’s been such a life changing experience for me. I’ve lost at least 10 pounds which was really difficult, I feel a confidence I haven’t felt in a long time, and I’ve even gained a greater appreciation of things in life. I think this last month will go by fast and slow at the same time due to the bittersweet of leaving. I depart on June 25^th and will stay in New Zealand for a couple days as a final activity before I return home. I land in LA on the 28^th where my mom is flying out for free to meet me and we’re spending a night there. Then I finally get back home in Indiana on the 29^th. Wow, it’s all approaching so quickly!

For more information about studying abroad, please visit ISU's Study Abroad website or contact Janis Halpern, Study Abroad Program Director, at (812) 237-3427 or Janis.Halpern@indstate.edu.