Ever wanted to visit Australia? Dr. Michael Rischbieter and Dr. Jim Wetzel of the biology department recently led a Maymester trip to Australia. Twenty PC students joined them as they spent one week in Melbourne, the second most populous city in Australia, and one week in Tasmania, an island state separated from the Australian mainland by the Bass Strait.

Prior to the trip, students studied the flora, fauna, geologic history, and native culture of Australia and more specifically Tasmania. The professors intended for each student to become an expert on some aspect of what the group would experience once they finally arrived in the country.

Once in Australia, the group spent their time on the Australian mainland exploring Melbourne, hiking through Trentham Falls Scenic Park, enjoying the views at Mornington Peninsula, and journeying to see the Indian Ocean.

In Tasmania, the group had the opportunity to collect plants at Ben Lomond National Park, work with Tasmanian devils at Cradle Mountain Preserve, take a ferry to Bruny Island, and feed kangaroos at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.

This Maymester helped these students broaden their understanding of the fauna and wildlife that call Australia home. But this experience abroad also left a lasting impression upon the group of 20 Blue Hose. “Being in a foreign land challenges you in a bunch of ways, and this challenge alone, being out of your comfort zone on someone else’s home turf, is a huge character building and eye-opening experience,” Rischbieter added. “The students came away with a far better feeling for what the world outside of PC, Clinton, South Carolina, the Southeast, and the USA is really like.”

Where will PC take you? Be a Blue Hose.

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