A leading boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 12-18 in Perthshire, Scotland
During July and August 2011, I was privileged to have had the opportunity to spend five weeks at The Southport School (TSS) on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Having never been to Australia, or anywhere that far away from home, I had no idea what to expect when I stepped off the Qantas plane at Brisbane Airport but I was immediately made to feel at home by Vincent Di Bella, my host in the exchange programme, and his family. The Di Bellas gave me a very warm welcome but I had just a weekend at their house before being flown across the country, with Vincent and three other boys from TSS, to the southern city of Adelaide to take part in a Round Square conference.
The Round Square is an organisation that arranges exchanges and fosters relationships between schools around the world. The Adelaide conference was a week of lectures, discussions and activities, hosted by Round Square member Westminster School. The conference brought together schools from all over Australia and further afield such as the Athena school in California and the Indian School in Oman.
The week comprised of lectures on leadership from many different and interesting people including authors, opticians, students and even the deputy mayor of Adelaide. One day was spent on a treasure hunt around the historic sights of Adelaide whilst another day was spent engaged in community service. For the service day I went with two other boys to fill in pot holes at a wildlife reserve in the Outback. I was surprised to find the day of manual labour was very good fun. After a disco on the final day of the conference I said my goodbyes to the many friends I'd made and flew back to Brisbane.
After the conference I attended the first three weeks of the new term at The Southport School. I tried to use my time well by sampling as many different subjects as I could. In maths I learnt how to build a house, in English I learnt about aborigines in modern society and the 'Stolen Generation', a government scheme of the 1920s that tried to westernise Aborigines through forced adoption. In Life and Faith lessons, which is a blend of Divinity and PSHCE, I learnt about the homeless and the work of the Salvation Army in Sydney. In Industrial Technology I was taught how to weld and in Leadership I learnt how to avoid being a bad leader.
In art I painted a self-portrait in the style of Henri Matisse. I also studied Graphics, ICT and Drama all of which I enjoyed thoroughly. Outside of lessons there were plenty of other opportunities at TSS and I joined as many as I could including the chess club, the choir, the Third XI football team, the air cadets and even ballroom dance classes. I also went to some interesting lectures about designing your own website and saving for the future.
In the second to last week at TSS I unexpectedly got to go on the Year 11 Camp which offered a choice of canoeing, walking or cycling. As the first two activities are offered at Glenalmond I chose cycling. Over four days our group of fourteen boys cycled 160 kilometres around the spectacular area of Byron Bay, an extinct volcano that forms part of the coastline.
Whereas the other boys had been preparing for this camp for months, I had only found out about it a week beforehand but I still had to prepare all my own meals and equipment. This was not a hindrance but a challenge and at the end of the week I had not just made it through the experience I'd also had an incredible time. I'd made friends with so many interesting people, not only the other boys in the group, but also the many other campers we had met along the way.
Besides the camp, the Round Square conference and school classes I visited two out of the three theme parks in Queensland. The Di Bellas and I climbed Tamborine mountain, a rain forest barely two kilometres from the Di Bella's house, and went to the beach twice; unfortunately I didn't get to go surfing even though we were so close to the city of Surfer's Paradise. I also visited the Queensland parliament and attended a TEDx 'inspiration' conference, a day of lectures about everything and anything. In my last week I visited the Ekka, the largest agricultural and country show in the southern hemisphere.
Despite being winter the weather was amazing, only raining once during my time there, so it seems that Australia's winter is far better than Britain's summer.
I was sad to say goodbye to Australia and everyone I'd met there but I was also pleased I'd made the most out all the fantastic opportunities I'd been offered. I felt proud to have travelled to, and lived on, the other side of the world by myself but I was by no means on my own. Over my time in Australia I'd noticed how friendly and willing to help everyone was and it was all the fascinating people I was able to befriend that made my 'once in a life time opportunity' an experience I will never forget.
Herries Anderton
Strategic Marketing and Design by the Native Agency
