My name is Rebecca Gerber, and I am a third year
Environmental Science major. I am just now finishing up my semester
abroad in Australia for the Fall 08 semester. I have been attending
Griffith University on the Gold Coast, where the sun is always
shining, the people are friendly, and the ocean never ceases to be
the clearest blue. I have taken a variety of courses, including
Australian History, Marine Vertebrates, and Outdoor Recreation. With
the education being very different here in Australia, I have not
only learned about things non-existent in the USA, but I have gained
an entirely new set of skills when it comes to independent and group
work. While studying here, I have had the opportunity to travel to
numerous spots around the country. These places included multiple
national parks, my favorite of which was Lamington National Park
(shown in the photo above) made up of kilometers and kilometers of
beautiful rainforests, waterfalls and creatures found no where else
in the world. I have also explored numerous surrounding cities,
hiked and camped on Moreton Island (an island made of entirely sand,
home to tallest vegetated sand dune in the world), discovered
Sydney, and done so much more. On my mid-semester holiday, I had the
opportunity to travel to the breathtaking New Zealand for ten days.
There, I saw some of the most beautiful and famous landscapes in the
world, hiked a glacier, rafted down a mountain, bungy jumped
134meters, and met some of the most interesting people I have ever
known. This study abroad experience has opened my eyes to what the
world has to offer, and secured my decision to study the environment
and help protect amazing locations such as the ones I have had the
privilege to visit in this past semester.
