Its a Learning curve

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE GREAT TO START, BUT YOU HAVE TO START TO BE GREAT.”

ZIG ZIGLAR

Coming to Australia has definitely been a learning process. I mean I did come here to study abroad and learn. I know shocking since it seems like all I am doing is going on trips and having fun. Which I am certainly having a ton of fun. As much as I am learning in school one of the hardest mountains I have climbed is adjusting to the outdoor ed program here and how they run it. I am very used to my home University and how they run trips and their program. My home university has outdoor center that provides all the students at Plymouth with pretty much almost everything you can imagine from tents, pots, stoves, sleeping mats, and rock climbing gear. In a lot of ways it would be easier to name what they dont have because they provide so much. Here the Uni only provides tents and tarps. All the students are required to ether buy their own gear or burrow from upper classman. Preparing to come to Australia I did not realize how much gear I needed for trips since I have the convince of the outdoor center back in Plymouth to rent from. We also prepare and separate all our food a day early. Here everyone has to shop and prepare all their own food. Shopping i feel like I am always drawing a blank on what I should cook and get for food. Preparing for trips I put it off till last minute and feel like I am running around with my head cut off. The last few trips I went on I found myself looking around realizing things I should of brought. Making a list of what I need for next time. This is what learning is all about, you need to start and make mistakes so you learn to do better next time. I know it going to take awhile before my packing is second nature and when I will own all my own gear. I am getting ready to leave for a five day trip in the Bogong Alps in Australia and this is the most prepared I have felt for a trip. Already I am learning because I have gone out and made those mistakes that I am LEARNING from. I am so happy to be fortunite enough to be learning about something I love in another country. I know that everything I am learning from all these trips is going to make me a better leader in the long run and these are skills I will be able to bring back to the states. I may even be teaching once I go back, teaching others about my mistakes and ways they can be better then me. Helping other people set up for success if they chose to study abroad here from what I have learned. I am now heading off for a 5 hour drive but im so excited to do this trip with a female instructor and in a different landscape then I have since I have been here. Cant wait to write about my adventures!