Intro to Tasmania

Hello! And welcome to my OZ blog. I am hoping this blog will demonstrate (somewhat mundane) sociological and cultural differences that I come across in Australian culture in Tasmania. For now, I am keeping the blog light, as this is just an introductory post to prepare my followers for my adventure (and to practice blogging skills…).

Honestly I still don’t really think about how I will be across the world In Tasmania, Australia in about a month and a half. It really hasn’t sunk in yet, I suppose. At the same time, I don’t know how I would be able to “expect” anything since I’ve never done something like this before. Sure I’ve traveled before, but never alone. Which happens to be the most appealing part of the entire experience for me.

It’s funny because being alone is what was once deterring me from the idea of studying abroad. Oddly enough, I eventually decided to follow in my sister’s footsteps, who recently traveled for a semester abroad to Tanzania, Africa. DISCLAIMER: Sarcasm should be included in the previous sentence. Following in my sisters’ footsteps is something I have been doing since I can remember.

I’m weirdly excited to be in a place where no one has any idea who I am. And I happened to choose Tasmania… mainly because I’m not ready to take on another language (AKA: I’m lazy).

a building on UTAS campus that I thought looked cool

a building on UTAS campus that I thought looked cool

Check out the school’s website here!

Before I go, I’d like to give a few shout outs. As the Spring 2014 semester came to a close, I became sad thinking about the many ineffable people I would be leaving behind for almost five months.

Dear…

OSWEGO:

I will miss you, my geese….

 

PATHFINDER:

I will miss working with this wonderful, hard working, personable crew. Thank-you so much for opening my eyes to a group of dedicated and caring individuals, and for being patient and helpful. You have impacted me in ways more than you will ever know, and I’m glad that I am showing my appreciation before I graduate! I’m excited for working for you for one last semester! 😉

me workin' hard

me workin’ hard

 

NEWMAN CENTER:

Ahh.. the center. Sorry for not saying bye to anyone, by the way… I really wanted to avoid any crying that may have occurred, and I’ll see you next semester anyways so no harm, no foul. I hope everything goes well with the retreats and please know that I will miss all of you so much! I’m also upset I’ll be missing the Fall retreat… make sure you folks stay up late and have extra special conversations in dedication of my absence. And have some of those sugar cookies at the meetings at LEAST one time. You know what I’m talkin’ about.

peace OUT.

peace OUT.

MY FRIENDS:
OMG you know I wish I could put a personal picture up with special captions for each of your individually, but I would say too much and then no one would take the time to read the blog. I will miss all of you SO MUCH and hope you have AMAZING SEMESTERS (but then have an even better one when I’m back from Australia). Thank-you for constantly supporting me, listening to my troubles, and giving me a good time. That’s all we need in life <3

Cats & hats!

Cats & hats!

the last [high school] dance!

the last [high school] dance!

FAMILY:

Thanking you over a blog post seems so lame… but if I didn’t include you it just wouldn’t be fair. I cannot express my gratitude to you in words. I hope I can show you it through my actions for the rest of my life. It is through your love, hardship, fighting, honestly, and trust that I am how I am today, and that alone is inspiring enough for me to go across the world in confidence. Thank-you Mom, Dad, Jenn, and Becca for making me a large part of who I am! I love you all.

Well, the next blog I post will hopefully have a picture of me holding a koala. See you then!

-Patty

 

Busy start to spring 2010!

I apologize for my absence on the blogging since the end of last semester, but here’s a little update as to what’s been going on in my life:
Over winter break, I stayed in Oswego all but one week. I worked at Maurices and in the point, our student involvement office. The director of off-campus affairs and myself started to plan a spring picnic on Mother’s day at Breitbeck park here in Oswego. Our vision is to give back to the community for all their support throughout the year and celebrate the youth! There will be food available, games for the younger children, recreational activities and a ‘pamper mom’ station. We’ve collaborated with many businesses in town to have their support at the picnic. I’m really excited to get this project going, I hope this will continue on for years to come! I’ll be graduating soon and so will the student I’m working with to create this event.
Secondly, the assistant director of sustainability and myself have created a “GO GREEN TEAM” as well as coordinating a green kiosk with support from campus life, the department that runs the campus center and all the events that take place within. The Kiosk is designed as a ‘learning through involvement’ tool for students. We’ve allowed this to serve as a community service project for many students a well. I’ve had a lot of students inquire and donate their time to volunteer. We have created 16 weeks of sustainable topics that students can choose from to create their own kiosk week! The actual kiosk itself is made from recycled materials and is about 9 feet long. It’s awesome! In coordination with this, I’ve worked with students for global change, who Katherine Raymond is apart of (shes a fellow blogger, check her out!) to help us with it.
I’ve also been quite busy working with our Civic Engagement coordinator on a sustainability fair we’re hosting on Quest day. Quest day is a day when one, we don’t have any classes and two, it’s a chance for students, staff and faculty to showcase what they’ve been working on! The sustainability fair will run from 4-8pm in the ice arena. There are sooo many vendors coming and the biggest one being GM and their fuel cell car! We’re hoping to draw in a large audience for this event and I’m sure we will. There is a lot of faculty working on the event and I’m excited for it. It’s actually going to be on my 21st birthday too!
My last blog I was thinking about Italy and now…. I’M GOING TO ITALY! I can’t begin to describe how excited I am! I’ll be earning 6 credits while abroad for four weeks. I’ll arrive in Rome, the city where my professor is actually from! Then, we will travel south to Altomonte, the southern part of Italy. I have heard so many great things I’m exicted! There’s a mud spa that students have bragged about and I’m actually going to get to experience it! I’ve begun to budget my money so that I’ll have plenty of spending money! I’ve also started my passport process, which is an extremely long process I’ve discovered. Financial aid will help cover the majority of the cost and I’m looking at flights. I found one for about $970 round trip which is relatively inexpensive!
Aside from all my extra curricular activities, seems like I don’t attend class huh? Well I do I promise! I really enjoy all of my classes this semester. Which is weird, because there is usually one that I’m not a huge fan of but I can honestly say, I like them all! I’ve started dipping into my business courses for my minor and I started to second guess myself as to why I didn’t major in business, but then again I really love PR! So, I can’t complain ☺. I’ve also been searching for some graduate schools and I’ve fallen in love with West Virginia University. I love the mountaineer football for one, two I love the mountains and three they have a great corporate communication program (should probably be the number one reason for liking the school :-p)
So anyway, there’s an update on my life for now, there’s a lot more to come as it is time for the new Student Association president. I’m acting as the campaign manager for a candidate and it’s getting intense, the elections are March 10 and 11. I’ll update more about this later!

Have a wonderful day☺
P.S we still have snow, but it’s Oswego, we’ll have snow until about April. I really enjoy it though, it’s something to talk about 30 years from now and gives the city character☺