Another Successful Ambassadorial Scholarship
Posted by John Hoopfer
I am now the 2010-2011 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar returnee from Melbourne, Australia! I had a lovely time down under and wish that everyone could have shared in my experiences with me. I successfully completed my Masters of Environmental Engineering with a focus on Water Resources at the University of Melbourne. A major component of my degree was to complete a year long research project which was recognised by several seniors in the department and thus is now being converted into a journal article, where I will be the first author. This journal acceptance process should take close to 6 months, so I am anxiously and patiently waiting to hear whether my article is going to be accepted. An abstract of my project was also sent to the International Water and Congress Association conference being held in Busan, Korea, in September, 2012. I am also currently waiting on its acceptance, and if successful I will attend and present during the conference.
I met several Rotarians throughout the year. I attended numerous Rotary functions, and completed 9 presentations over the year. I attended my host club’s Rotary meetings at least twice a month and got involved in numerous of their activities that they held over the year. I also became very close friends with the other scholars who were staying in Melbourne, and shared many of my experiences with them. We were very fortunate to have on another while we were there.
My time this past year in Australia was far beyond anything I imagined. Aside from completing my degree, working on my journal article, and completing my Rotary activities, I was able to see other parts of the country; such as Sydney, Brisbane, Fraser Island, Whitsundays (where I went snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef), Tasmania, Adelaide, the Barossa Valley wine region, Yarra Valley wine region, Red Hill wine region, the Mornington Peninsula and other parts of countryside Victoria. I found the country beautiful, and I fell in love with it immediately upon arrival.
The city of Melbourne itself is spectacular and I got to attend many of the special events it holds such as the Australian Open Tennis tournament, the Grand Prix Formula 1, Derby Day horse races, the Melbourne Cup horse races, and several Australian football (footy) games! Below is a picture of me getting ready to attend the Carlton Blues footy game! I had to choose a team when I arrived I was told, so that was them! Overall, the year was absolutely amazing and I can’t even put into words what a great experience it was for me. I will forever be grateful to Rotary for giving me this opportunity to go over there, and meet so many other wonderful Rotarians, and make so many new friends. I wish nothing but to give back to Rotary and will do so once I settle myself back into my normal routine of life again. I look forward to sharing my experiences with all of you very soon!
