Hello guys, gals, and non-binary pals and welcome back to my blog! I know it has been a long time since I updated you all, as I’ve been studying abroad with Frontiers Abroad at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. My semester started on July 17, and before that, I had a four-week long geology-focused field camp where I got to explore the country, befriend the other people in my program, and look at a lot of really cool rocks (see photos below of Punakaiki also known as Pancake Rocks).
The coursework that I’ve done here counts toward my degree at Amherst College, and I’ll be able to get elective credit for my geology major as well! I’m really excited to share with you all about some of my adventures being here, the friends I made, and the highlights and lowlights of being abroad! I am super grateful that I got to have this experience, and I’m especially glad that I chose to study in Christchurch! It is the second largest city in New Zealand and the largest city on the South Island. There’s easy access to the beach, botanic gardens, and hiking trails through the public bus system, and I love being able to see people everywhere I go! Growing up in a larger city (Albuquerque, NM), I often feel homesick while at Amherst and long to be in a more populated place. Christchurch has felt a lot like home to me while I’ve been here (probably because of this and a variety of other reasons), and despite being 7,421 miles away from home, I haven’t felt homesick in the same way. I have missed the Amherst community though, and I’m excited to reunite with friends and advisors when I return.
While here, I’ve focused on geology, and I got to do research with Professor Sarah Smithies and three other people in my program about sediment provenance. We essentially looked at the geochemistry of 89 off-shore samples that were collected around Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū (Banks Peninsula) to see where the sediment originally came from and how they were transported to that location. This was my first time doing a serious research project, and I’m so grateful to my group partners and mentors who made this project such a success. I’ll be talking about this research experience more in-depth in later blog posts
As for where I am right now, I finished my last final exam last week, and I am officially done with my semester. I’ll be visiting some friends in California and Utah before heading back home to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family, begin studying for the honors qualifying exam for the math major, and start doing preliminary research for a possible senior thesis project in geology. Alas, that is all for now! I am looking forward to reflecting on my experiences abroad and updating this blog while back in the United States! I hope that for everyone finishing up their semester, you all can find moments of levity and rest. Remember that this semester will be over before you know it and that things will find a way of working themselves out!