Landing in Sydney - Student Point of View

This blog post was written by one of our students, Tucker!

Hi! My name is Tucker but most people call me Bug! I am, as of writing this, currently part of the CIEE trip to Sydney Australia to study conservation from land to sea. To start I just want to tell you a little about why I applied to this program. 

I have always had a passion for nature, especially some of the more unloved aspects like insects and reptiles, and I have always wanted to visit the epitome of biodiversity that is Australia. So when this opportunity presented itself I was jumping at an opportunity to apply and my parents were all for it. They knew how much I would love this trip and were excited for me to take a very major step in my process to becoming an entomologist (a scientist who specializes in insects). They helped me apply and work out all of the starting tasks, making this whole process 1000 times less stressful.

As for the program itself I couldn’t be more pleased with what has been happening so far. Its only day five, technically 4 ½, but every day has been amazing. The first, or half day, was relatively uneventful. We landed at SYD, waited for some more participants who had flown separate, got our first look at our house and met our roomates for the next 3 weeks. Afterwards we headed to the CIEE learning center, located at World Square in Chinatown, and then got burgers for dinner. The following day is when the fun really started. We did a scavenger hunt around a good portion of the city. We had a list of things to find such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower, and some smaller things like paw paw cream and a bookstore. 

On the second full day we had our first class. Our instructor, Rick, has been teaching for longer than I’ve been alive and is both very passionate about conservation and very knowledgeable about the native flora and fauna of Australia. Later we went on a very fast paced hike around the coastline of Sydney spanning about 6km or about 3 ¾ miles. We learned a lot and even saw some of the wildlife like rainbow lorikeets. The third day followed a similar schedule. We went to class with Rick, and then we went on a guided tour of the Sydney museum where the focus was placed on the native peoples, especially the Gadigal people, the rightful owners of the land Sydney sits on. Later we had free time to explore the entire museum and later our first “free time”. We were given free roam of Sydney so long as we stayed within the bounds of George street. Me and some friends went out and got mongolian food and after got something sweet. 

Finally today. We actually “skipped” class today in favor of 3 hours of whalewatching with Rick followed by lunch and ending on a 2 hour tour of “The Rocks”; the area settled by the convicts first sent to Australia. We ended the day with more free time, of which I am currently using to write this blog post!

Overall, even though this trip isn’t even to its halfway point I’m having a lot of fun. I’ve made new friends, seen things I’ve only dreamed of, and expanding my worldview. To end I just want to give a special thanks to my parents who have helped me throughout my entire application process, funding the trip, and making my first solo flights just a little bit easier.