Jillian Jones
University of New Hampshire
Spring 2000
It’s hard for me to believe that almost three and a half years have gone by since the 9 of us stepped off the plane in Auckland and were welcomed out of a New Hampshire frost and into the warm sunlight of a New Zealand summer. It was January 2000, the spring semester, and I remember not even knowing how to pronounce the name of the town I would be living in for the next 16 weeks. Kaiaua...how can a single word have one consonant and five vowels? I had no idea that this yet unpronounceable town would soon feel like home and, more importantly, that the time I was about to spend and the people I was about to meet would have such a profound impact on the rhythm of my life.
Although the immediate exhilaration of the people, the culture, and the environment has passed, time has allowed for the experience as a whole to resonate and settle in my memory. I am very grateful and very aware of the knowledge I gained during my EQ adventure, particularly the emphasis of the importance of looking at the environment from a watershed perspective. The philosophies and practices learned during those few short months are what I rely upon each day in my current job. I have known since high school that I wanted to go into the environmental field, however, I am still amazed how a single semester immersed in a tiny island country ended up preparing me for my career path equally, if not better, than the rest of my years of education put together. I think that really says something.
I remember being so fully immersed in what I was doing that I didn’t even realize I was learning. Life became education; the food we ate, the water in which we bathed, our recreation activities, everything was made possible by the unique way in which the environment around us was being managed and appreciated. It was inspiring to know that every lesson and activity that we were involved with was for a greater purpose than simply being able pass a test. Mussel farmers needed assistance to determine the best time to harvest their mussels; so we worked with them to figure it out. There was a question as to how the restoration efforts and pest exclusion in the Warrenheip Reserve was impacting water quality; so my independent research project focused on developing a baseline profile of the stream running through the property. The benefits of our work reached farther than the points on our GPAs. It reached all the way to the appreciative faces of the people around us and all the way to the end of the day when we could sit back and feel satisfied that we had contributed to the community who had welcomed us so warmly. It made me want to work harder and learn more. And I have to say that I have yet to experience another time in my life when I have been as physically, mentally, and emotionally challenged (and exhausted) all at the same time.
Despite the knowledge I gained and the amount of dirt that accumulated under my fingernails, I have come to realize that my experience in New Zealand ended up being equally, if not more, a personal quest than an academic one. I still cannot fully express how the whole experience helped shape the path to where I am today. It seems almost ridiculous to say that only 4 months of my past 25 years have had such an impact on me, but I gained an immense appreciation of the world around me and my place in it.
I think the best way to summarize my experience and to express the empowerment that I gained during it is to include the postcard that I wrote to myself during my last week in New Zealand. I can look at that postcard and be reminded not only of my time in New Zealand and the family that I met there, but also that there is a world around me that I fit into and contribute to and that has limitless possibilities. I hope that everyone is able to experience such exhilaration even for just a moment. We all deserve to achieve our full potential and to know how good it feels to be so connected to the world and to ourselves. That is what my short season in New Zealand did for me. Peace ~Jillian
Here is what I wrote:
Dated 10/5/00
So you did it! You made it on your own halfway across the world for 4 months by yourself. You made excellent friendships with Story, Jess, Deb, Erin, Regina, Rider, Chris, and Becca and most importantly yourself. You have turned into a beautiful person. Remember the cold water around your body and the deep silent breaths in the blue hazy dream of swimming with the dusky dolphins in Kaikoura. Remember how tired you were climbing the mountains in Craigieburn and the triumph you felt when you reached the top time after time with everything you came through for yourself. Think of how good it felt to carry everything you had in a pack on your back-Always try to keep it simple. Remember the importance of good friends when you think of singing with Story and Deb to the indigo girls on the back deck. Remember to cherish your family when you think of how they were always saying the right thing on the other end of the line. Remember the sunrise every morning over the Coromandel that awoke you to a beautiful new day. And know that you can make each day amazing for yourself. You are strong, you are smart, you can do anything if you just conquer your fear and try it. Remember walking though the orchard and the taste of fresh passion fruit just off the vine. Remember how good it feels to work so hard simple joys of fruit juice and a good story. Remember your EQHQ whanau. Remember that at this moment in time your wings grew back and you caught a breeze and you really flew. You made it. Remember that. Remember no matter what I will always be there.