Australia: Nari Tagura (We’re Not in Madison Anymore)
We’re Not in Madison Anymore
On my second week of the program, the girls in my program and I finished our homework the night before and went to a well-known, memorable tourist attraction with crystal clear water, smooth sand, a busy boardwalk, and a walking pathway to Coogee beach, called Bondi Beach. Not only was it a day to get sun kissed and tan, but it is now my favorite beach that I’ve ever been too due to the divine and joyful day that I had at this Australian beach. Not only was it stunning, but I found out that it is a famous beach as it has its own TV show called, “Bondi Rescue,” which is where lifeguards save tourists from the water. It’s comical because I was a tourist at that time, though I was smart and read all the signs!
From the sights that the beach had to offer and knowing I was standing in a world renowned beach, I knew that in that moment of time, Bondi Beach in Australia is the most beautiful environment I’ve ever been to. Though it was wintertime in Australia where it was warm for a Wisconsinite, and summer in Madison, I could not compare the Madison weather to the warm and beautiful day at the beach where the sun glistens on the gentle waves, the soft sand caresses my feet, and you can smell and taste the scent of the sea. My friends and I not only relaxed and tanned on the beach, but we took a hike from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach where the coast and shore were even more beautiful. Though, you really had to work for your views as it took us 2 hours to get to Coogee Beach!
I felt grateful and enjoyed every single moment of the hike because I thought to myself, “Madison may have Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, but nothing compares to Bondi Beach.” From interacting to Bondi Beach, it made me realize how lucky I am to be a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and to be studying abroad in Australia for more than half my program paid for, so I get to see these types of views and have experiences like this for a lifetime. I felt very privileged to be a hard-working college student who’s studying abroad, and it felt unreal from the spectacular views that the Beach and coast were. When I left Bondi Beach, all I was thinking that if Bondi Beach were ever in Madison, WI, I would never want to leave it.
Narianna (Nari) Tagura
Major: Nursing
Hometown: Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
Program: UW Disability Rights and Access in Australia
Being a Global Gateway Fellow means a lot to me personally, financially, and academically. Personally, being awarded this scholarship helps with my endeavors to study in another country and expand my worldview on many different aspects of the world. Financially, I would never have been able to study abroad on my own with my own finances, but this scholarship gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to pursue a dream of mine which is to study out of the United States. And academically, I get the chance to learn about people with disabilities and their lifestyles to therefore incorporate into the healthcare setting as I’m a pre-nursing major.
I look forward to learning about not only about the people of Sydney, the people with disabilities of Sydney, but also the culture, lifestyles, and specular natural landscapes that Sydney, Australia has. I think their country is so unique because living in the Midwest, we don’t get to have those natural environments and wildlife here. This will be a once in lifetime memory that I will never forget.