Family:
Throughout my entire life, the value of family has always been instilled into me. I was very lucky to have a large and diverse family. I truly owe everything to my parents, who worked very hard their whole lives to ensure I had the opportunity and ability to pursue my passions. The sacrifices they have made, and continue to make, do not go unseen, and I will work very hard to make it up to them throughout my life. My Dad has been such an inspiration to me, as he is the most humble and levelheaded person I have ever met. Among many other things, he has taught me how to treat women, and other people in general, as well as how to evaluate situations from a composed place, not letting emotions affect decision-making. I have cherished our projects together growing up, and will always look up to his ability to take on any challenge and conquer it.
My Mother has also been profound in my life, as she has always been my rock, and a person I could truly be myself around and open up to. My mom has taught me how to be strong, to defend myself and the things I care about, and how to weather any storm, coming out stronger on the other end of it. She truly epitomizes resilience. My Grandmother Peg (Grammy) was a massive part of my life, and unfortunately we lost her a little over a year ago. Her effect on my life could never be overstated, as she was always there during my childhood, with her kind voice and strong hand. After her passing, a good friend asked me to evaluate what the most important thing she taught me was, and that wasn’t a very hard conclusion to come to.
Grammy taught me how to love. Never has there been a person more willing to sacrifice for others, whether they were her kids or complete strangers. I grew up celebrating holidays and having dinners with all kinds of people, many of them complete strangers to me, as my grandma was always willing to share the love of our family with others. Just being in her presence would make you feel better about yourself, because she saw you for who you really were and loved you all the same. I strive to never forget this lesson she taught me, and to always work to love others, and care for people unconditionally.
My Grandparents on my dad’s side have also instilled lessons that have crafted me, and have always been a strong support system for me that I refuse to take for granted. They have always inspired and pushed me, as they worked for everything they have in this world, and want teach all their loved ones how to do the same. I hope that, one day, I can pass on the generosity and support they have given me to my family, and perpetuate the love and support I’ve been fortunate enough to receive.
I could continue to write for days on all the people who have been there for me and had a hand in crafting me, people like my incredible sister Nicole, and my very unique brother Ian, or my incredible cousins, like Kiki and Emma, who are more like sisters to me than anything else. My Uncles, like my Uncle Curtis, Uncle Mike, and Uncle Dave, and my Aunts, like Aunt Zoe and Aunt Sherry, have all been essential in my 23 years on this earth, but in the nature of not writing a book on just my loved ones, I must leave many of my friends and family out of this list, but they are not left out of my heart and mind, I just don’t have enough room to include everyone.
How I got here:
As the people who know me the best are very aware, coming to New Zealand has not been a direct path for me, but has been something I have been pursuing for years now. Time and time again, studying abroad has fallen through for me, mainly for financial reasons, but when I began approaching the end of my college career, I knew I needed to do whatever it took to have this experience. It was that moment, the moment I decided not to give up on this dream, that I confirmed to myself that, no matter what it took, I was making this journey happen.
I scoured the Internet in search of possible internship or scholarships that could lead me to this country, and ended up on a study abroad scholarship contest through a company called Go Overseas. The winner of the contest would be awarded the Education New Zealand scholarship that was worth a significant amount towards tuition and other education expenses while abroad. The prompt for the application was a creative photo incorporating a kiwi, as well as an essay about why you want to study in New Zealand.
When I saw this contest, I knew it could be my way to finally study in New Zealand. I remember telling myself that I could win this, and that I would put in more effort than anyone else brainstorming and accumulating thoughts for a creative photo, as well as expose myself in a way that I had never done before in my essay to truly outline my story as I saw it, and express my sheer desire for this.
For the following weeks and months, I spend a little time each day thinking and brainstorming ideas, as well as auto projecting the thoughts that I could win this. I bounced ideas off of close friends and family, and ultimately ended up with the thought that I was going to carve a bird out of a kiwi. After a couple nights of (delicious) arts and crafts projects, I finally had a bird I was proud of, and a very confused roommate. That night, I put the bird in the freezer to preserve its shape and went to bed proud of my accomplishment.
The next morning, I recruited my roommate to take a picture of me with my newly crafted kiwi (at this point I’m sure his confusion turned to concern, but he understood how much I wanted this). After getting out of class, I fetch my bird out of the freezer and think, “I have to find an interesting place to take this picture”, so the brainstorming continues and I decided to go to go to the field of straw behind our apartment complex and make a birds nest, then act like I came across the nest with this “bird” in it while hiking. While crafting the bird’s nest out of the surprisingly smelly straw, it hit me that the kiwis look just like eggs, so I should have a few kiwi eggs in the nest for the picture, and a quick trip to the grocery store ensued.
After quickly scurrying to the grocery store (we were running out of sunlight), I realize that I had forgotten my wallet at home, so I frantically dug through my center console and find a handful of change. After finding the eggiest looking kiwis, I hustled to the self-checkout and realized I am 1 PENNY short. Good fortune was in my favor that day though, and the person next to me happily leant me a penny.
As I returned home from the grocery store, the thought to carve one of the kiwis like a cracked egg, and to have the bird appear as it just hatched in the picture came to mind, so I quickly got a knife, did some carving and packed everything up. My roommate and I drove about an hour to this lake outside of town and found a perfect spot to come across a bird’s nest, and we got a few different shots. Here is the one that I ended up submitting to Go Overseas:
The Day Everything Changed:
A quick google search told me the phone number on the van was from Missouri (I was studying at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville at the time), and I had never heard of anyone flying into Missouri to come to Fayetteville, so I figured it was someone else’s time for a life changing event, and I kept telling myself I would be happy for them, and not disappointed for myself. Now here’s where things get a little interesting, that day I had a class that was essentially an optional study hour because we had a test coming up so our teacher gave us the opportunity to study. Well I had a very busy day and decided I would study at home and not in class, so I was planning on not going to the optional class.
Well that changed when my advisor called me saying I had left a signature off of an application (ironically, I had filled out an application the day before so it was completely believable), and that she needed it that day so she would meet me outside my class. Well it turns out that Go Overseas, the study abroad office at the University of Arkansas, and my roommate had all been in contact and he had warned them of my potential absence, since they were planning on surprising me as I walked out of this class.
Well their plan to draw me to class worked, and I quickly got ready and left for campus. After the class was out, I saw my advisor and started walking with her towards her office.
After reaching the top of the stairs, I turned my head and, in that moment, the entire trajectory my life changed. I saw many of my professors, the Dean of the business school, a couple of my good friends, the wonderful ladies at Go Overseas – Mallory and Anna, as well as a giant inflatable kiwi, all holding a big check with my name on it.
Overwhelmed with a sea of emotions, I numbingly walked towards everyone, not knowing what to do or say, but just wanting to give hugs.
Over the next hour of so, I gave a cliché interview (I was in such a state of shock I couldn’t think very well), and made some of the best calls to my family I’ve ever given.
It’s truly amazing how all of these seemingly negative events over the previous couple of years, including the time and time again of pursing study abroad opportunities and not being able to actually realize them, had all led to such an incredible positive opportunity.
This stream of events sincerely altered my view of how life works, and how I would look at hurdles in the future. It also reassured me that if you continue to work hard and grind for something, one way or another, life has a way of working out.
In the future, I will go into more detail about the people and companies involved in this whole adventure, but I’d like to take this time to thank Go Overseas (gooverseas.com), Education New Zealand (enz.govt.nz), Zespri (zesprikiwi.com), IFSA-Butler (ifsa-butler.org), StaTravel (statravel.co.nz), and the University of Arkansas Office of Study Abroad (studyabroad.uark.edu), for the opportunities they have all allotted me, it has truly been great to work with all of you!
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Read more from Colin at https://planestrainsandtravelsustained.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the IFSA-Butler program at the University of Auckland, visit http://www.ifsa-butler.org/university-of-auckland.html
