This past semester Vanessa Pearson ’21 was selected as a recipient for the Gilman Scholarship and traveled abroad to Australia. A brief interview was done with Pearson to learn more about this opportunity and experiences:
Thank you for taking time to answer some questions! To start off, can you tell me a little about you?
I am a junior here at Roanoke. I live off campus and commute to school. I am an education and psychology major looking to get my teaching license and work in an elementary school.
Where did you study abroad? Why did you choose to study there and what was it like? Was it different from what you were expecting?
I studied abroad in Townsville, Australia which is on the northern east coast. I chose to study there because I had always wanted to travel to Australia, and it was northern, therefore it would be warmer. I also chose it because they speak English, I wanted to get inside an elementary school classroom and therefore would have needed to understand what they were saying.
What were some of your favorite moments while abroad?
I loved meeting new people from all over the world. I loved traveling all around Australia. I got to be a part of a turtle release, which is where they released a turtle back into the ocean that they had found hurt and nurtured back to life.
What were you most worried about in terms of studying abroad?
I was worried that I wouldn’t make any friends while I was abroad and that I would be lonesome and homesick.
Did anything happen that you weren’t expecting? Were there any moments that particularly struck you while abroad? Tell me about them.
I was not expecting my time there to go by so quickly. I was nervous when I was traveling that this was going to be the longest trip of my life and I was surprised when it was time to pack up and come home. I had so many amazing moments with friends that I had made there. I loved the weekends where I got to travel with my friends to different cities. It struck me by surprise at how different everybody is while also being kind of the same.
What did you learn while abroad? This is not limited to just coursework (though certainly talk about the types of courses you were able to take) but also about the culture or cultures you interacted with and, cheesy as it is, yourself as well.
I learned that the cultures in Australia are still very ingrained in how they do things throughout their day. In classes, professors start off with an acknowledgement of culture and thanking the aboriginal people for providing the land in which the school was built on. I learned that I enjoyed learning about the culture of another country and that I would like to go to other countries in the future and learn more about the culture and the way they see things now.
What do you miss the most?
I miss the people that I met there the most. I met so many amazing people who I enjoyed spending my time with. It is still sometimes hard to come to school and not see them around. I miss the environment I was surrounded by during my time there.
Tell me about your plans for the future. How will you apply what you learned while abroad to help you?
I would love to continue to travel to different places in the world. My next trip I am planning would be to go and travel around Europe. I will apply what I have learned abroad because I learned to take a step back and truly listen to the stories that are being told around you. I learned that if you look around at even the smallest things, you can find so much culture in it.
Do you have any advice for other students interested in studying abroad?
My advice would be to do it. If you are thinking about it, you should one hundred percent just do it. It is an amazing experience and while you may miss home for the first couple of days, you make friends and it does get easier. It can open your eyes to some crazy and great things.
Congratulations again to Vanessa Pearson on receiving the Gilman Scholarship and on a successful trip, and thank you for taking time to answer some questions!
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To start off, can you tell me a little about you?
small, artfully plated bowl of pea soup. Our entrees were then brought out and none of us could talk because we were just so amazed at how good the food was. Finally, we ordered dessert which was the grand finale of our fabulous meal. I ordered an apple pastry which was presented inside of a chocolate dome which then had melted chocolate poured on top of it to reveal the pasty in the shape of a rose. At this point, our friends and I were almost screaming in delight. The rest of our day we couldn’t stop talking about how surprising the meal was and how it was the best dining experience we had ever had.
the Swiss Alps: Interlaken. While there were many magical moments that happened while I was there, like watching the sunset from the Harderkulm and paragliding, probably the most striking moment was when I was in the mountain top town, Mürren. It’s only accessible by cable car which made it feel like it was almost out of a fairy tale because of the lack of cars. It’s hard to describe exactly how it felt to be so high up in the mountains and to see the snow-capped summits of the Alps in person. In some ways, it was the most peaceful I’ve ever felt.
hang out with. Luckily, those fears were unfounded! I formed some great friendships while I was abroad with some wonderful people that I hope I get to travel with again in the future.
turned out to be a kidney stone! Once I was in the hospital and on pain medicine it wasn’t as scary anymore but [everything] leading up to that point was quite stressful. My mom was ready to drop a few thousand dollars to fly over to be with me (and thank God she didn’t). The care I received in the hospital was phenomenal and I was lucky enough to have another girl in my study abroad program there with me for some of the time so I wasn’t alone (she had a seizure on the bus ride from the airport :O).
What did you learn while abroad? This is not limited to just coursework (though certainly talk about the types of courses you were able to take) but also about the culture or cultures you interacted with and, cheesy as it is, yourself as well.
I also miss the friends I made abroad. Luckily, my program was for American students, so all my friends live in the U.S., but we’re still pretty far out. Just in my friend group there was someone from California and another from Minnesota, so it will be hard to see them in person in the future. Thank God for technology though!
Perugia. It was called Pasta alla Norcina and I always got it at this one restaurant called Ferrari. While there were many other delicious foods I had while abroad, this will definitely be what I miss the most, especially because it was a specialty to the area.
As a follow-up to the previous article 
I am excited to experience something new. I am a commuter at Roanoke, so I [want] to [know] what it feels like to live on campus. I am also excited to travel around the world.
friendships and I really want to pet a kangaroo and hold a koala bear.
