My semester abroad has taught me what the most important thing in my life is: my being. I have spent so much time outside in mind-blowingly beautiful places pushing my body to its limits hiking, climbing, exploring, and moving. It has made me realize how presence in my body is the single most important thing to being alive. Though of course other things matter, I have learned how to prioritize making sure I feel connected to my being. If I have this, everything else falls into place. I have found that I feel best when I feel just like any other animal, existing among them and watching life around me. So many of the places I’ve been to are dozens of miles away from a proper city and the only way to access them is by walking. The fact that I am healthy and privileged enough to visit these remote places makes me even more grateful for being able to see them. There’s nothing like walking through rainy forests and trudging through bogs that will make you appreciate your body’s capability and the rewards of pushing yourself. I feel stronger not just physically, but mentally in my capacity to endure uncomfortable situations in order to experience the world’s magic.
I feel more sure of what I need to be happy. This experience has also helped me get a better idea of how I can shape my future to accommodate time outdoors. The University of Otago has a lot of field research, and taking my marine ecology field course has opened my eyes to a sector of biology research that involves fieldwork and time interacting with animals and plants in locations I would otherwise not be able to visit. Though I might not ultimately end up in a fieldwork career, I have a renewed interest in centering my life in the outdoors. Whatever I end up doing, I know that I need to block out time to immerse myself in nature to reconnect.
As my final project, I put together a short video showing my experience abroad. I found it very difficult to select just a few clips from the semester because I saw so many incredible things. The music in the video is a recording of a song my Māori performing arts class learned and performed in our end-of-semester show. I included this as background music because this class was important to my time here in that it expanded my cultural understanding and taught me about different ways to learn. In the course we learned songs in Māori in the dark by ear and added actions to them in traditional style. It was so fun to learn about a fundamental aspect of Māori culture through doing it. It gave me a deeper appreciation for the performing arts and language. I felt the thrill of singing and dancing every Monday morning at 8am, and this experience reminded me how much I love music.
New Zealand has taught me so much about wildlife, conservation, my desires for my future, and who I am as a person. This experience has helped me grow into myself and become more independent. I am more in touch with my joy than I ever have before. The life lessons from this semester will stay with me wherever I go and whatever I do.