ISA Study Abroad: Photography Course in Australia

This course was an extremely good experience. The staff and teachers were super helpful and supportive. The living accommodations were not the best, but not too bad. I wish that more time was spent in the outback rather than in Mildura, the "home base" of La Trobe Uni. I made some really good connections and made some friends along the way. This program ended up being completely different than I expected and that is part of the beauty of it. I would recommend this program to my peers, but I would advise them to make plans to extend their trip and travel to other parts of the country while they are in Australia.

Perhaps the most treasured souvenir I brought back to the United States with me, was the visual journal that I was required to keep as per my course syllabus. At first, our group of 20 were a little wary of the whole process of taking time out of the day to re-cap and reflect, but once the first few pages were no longer blank, there was no stopping the magazine cut-outs, the endless collections of pamphlets, brochures, and menus from places we've been, and soon our glue sticks had run dry.

Everyone had a different take on what their journal would contain and represent. I created my journal specifically for the ease of explaining my adventures to friends and family upon my return to the US, sparing only a few details. How many times have you gone on a vacation and people ask you what you did, and you have absolutely no idea where to start? You simply respond with something like "Oh, it was great!" and kind of leave it at that. For me and my hungry-for-details family, the journal was a perfect little picture book, where when I would flip through it, the pages would come to life and spark a new story for me to show and tell.

-Here's a picture of the Apostle birds we saw (and heard) everywhere in the outback.
-Here's a drawing of what the buttons on the toilets look like. Did you know there's two of them?!
-Here are some photography notes that I took during our lectures.
-Here's a list of the fun Aussie terms we have heard: Cheers! Howyagoin? I'll have a dog's eye with dead horse, thank you.
-Here's an original pastel drawing that our Aboriginal guide made for me...he did a different one in every single person's journal. (That's my favorite page.)

All in all, this course and the experiences that it offers were completely captured through my minds eye and into my journal for safekeeping, and I thank the professors for showing us just how important our own documentation of our experiences is.