Theresa has been a “honorary” member of the South Wairarapa Rotary, District 9940, for 8 months. She is a Rotary exchange student from Austria hosted by the South Wairarapa Club. Theresa joined Rotary as an exchange student and she enjoys meeting up with Rotarians and other Rotary Fellows. She attends weekly meetings, has given a presentation to the Club, took an active role in the Martinborough Fair run by the South Wairarapa Rotary Club and is involved with other Rotary events.
Rotary organises a lot of activities for exchange students. She has had a lot of highlights during her exchange but one of them was a three week tour in the South Island, where she went tramping, bungee jumping, whale watching, white water rafting, kayaking and especially hanging out with the other Rotary exchange students. Theresa is still a student and she studies Music, Drama, English, Photography, Te Reo Maori and Spanish here in New Zealand. Last year she won third prize in a local photography competition. Theresa’s parents and sister live in Austria. They are keeping in regular contact through Facetime. They are currently hosting a New Zealand Rotary exchange student. Theresa is looking forward to meet up with her when she returns to Austria in July. Theresa is a talented piano player, she loves to sing and playing the guitar. She is also a passionate skier and she likes tramping. One of her hobbies is going outside to take pictures of nature and different landscapes and of course another thing she likes to do is hanging out with her friends. Travelling to different countries is one of the activities Theresa loves the most. She is going to try playing school soccer this year. Most of the people that know Theresa in New Zealand are not aware that Theresa sings. In Austria she sang in a former student choir with other 30 students from her old music middle school she went to and she also has had singing lessons in Austria as well as here in New Zealand.
Throughout Rotary there are countless Rotarians whose journey in Rotary began with a Rotary youth programme such as Rotary Youth Exchange, Rotaract, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and others. Those taking part in service with Rotary through these programmes are a part of Rotary.