willzadnik

[willzadnik]

NFL 2021 Schedule Release Week 1 Fortune Teller Drill

-Matchup: Dallas at Tampa Bay

Analysis: Please try finding one hole on either side of the ball for the reigning Super Bowl champions. I’ll give you 60 seconds. Tick, tick, tick. Time’s up. Did you find one? My best guess is probably not. After hitting free agency out of the park by becoming the first team in the salary cap era to re-sign all of their starters from the Super Bowl, Tampa Bay has given Tom Brady a very good chance to go back to back. This Buccaneers team may very well be the closest thing we’ve ever seen to a team being completely Super Bowl hangover proof. However, this Dallas team is coming off a truly embarrassing season, finishing 6-10 on the year. It seemed like all of the life got completely sucked out of the Cowboys offense when Dak Prescott’s gruesome injury occurred. Despite the injury, Dak got PAID this offseason. In all honesty, it was hard not to raise an eyebrow when looking at Forbes’ World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes list and seeing Prescott at number four. Anyway, this upcoming season is the epitome of a prove it year for the quarterback of America’s team. It feels like Dak is going to want to come out of the gates with a bang and remind people just how magnificent his start to the 2020 season was. But the Bucs should still start the year 1-0. Prediction: 30-27 Tampa Bay

-Matchup:

Cleveland at Kansas City

Analysis: It feels like the Chiefs are the next Patriots dynasty. Maybe no team will ever accomplish as much as the Pats did with Tom Brady under center, but if any team is going to sniff that amount of success, it might be the Chiefs. This feels like another year when people will be saying “I could legitimately see Kansas City running the table”. Although in this game, the hype isn’t all one sided. After pack-a-punching their already talented roster through free-agency and a solid draft night, the Cleveland Browns are true Super Bowl contenders on paper. They fixed their secondary problem by going out and snatching up John Johnson III and Troy Hill from the Los Angeles Rams, and stealing Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, the 2020 Butkus Award winner in the second round of the NFL draft. This Chiefs team also somehow got better by bolstering their offensive line, but they are still the last team Cleveland faced to date and I think this helps the Browns. I am betting on Kevin Stafanski to come into Arrowhead stadium with a list of things stored in his head that they could have done better to come out on top last time the two teams met. For that reason, I like the Browns to pull off the upset here. Prediction: 31-24 Cleveland

-Matchup: 

Chicago at Los Angeles Rams

A very underrated storyline in the NFL is the threat of the Los Angeles Chargers becoming the future king of the city in terms of being a better football team than the Rams. Justin Herbert is the real deal, and seems like a really quick learner. If he takes a big jump from his rookie of the year campaign, watch out. These days, the better your franchise quarterback is, the brighter your future is. In regards to the Rams, getting rid of Jared Goff in return for Matthew Stafford arguably extended their Super Bowl window which was about to be shut. Fans get to watch Stafford go to work in Los Angeles right away, and as a bonus it’s under the lights at SoFi Stadium on Sunday Night Football. Assuming the Bears go with the Red Rifle, Andy Dalton over 11th overall pick Justin Fields, they will most likely find themselves to be overmatched playing against a star-studded Rams defense. Expect Sean McVey to draw up plays that he couldn’t call beforehand with Goff as his quarterback. A huge performance from Stafford and the Rams would put the NFC West and the rest of the NFL on notice, and I believe that’s exactly what will happen here. Prediction: 33-7 Los Angeles.

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 15: Post-New Zealand

Now back in the United States, I want to reflect on my pre-departure entry, or in other words, my first blog entry. In that entry, I covered what I was excited about, what I was nervous, or uncertain about, and what I hoped to learn from the program. Also, I discussed what personal development goals that I wanted to achieve. 

In my first blog entry, I talked about how I was excited to converse with local New Zealanders, and compare and contrast our cultures. I had many conversations with Kiwis, and being someone who likes meeting new people, I was not surprised by that. I learned that the New Zealand culture is very unique in a number of ways. New Zealanders tend to be a lot more informal in the way they dress and act. Also, they keep community sports a priority over commercializing sports. For example, the country pumps more money into keeping people active through community and competitive sport than funding professional sports. All in all, they are a lot more laid back than Americans and tend to be much more outgoing than most people from the U.S. There are a lot of things that you can point to if you want to try to explain why that is. 

I also wrote that I was nervous to travel to New Zealand because of how far away it is, and some of the activities that were planned for us. However, I was able to cope with the long flights, and when it was time to hop on the flight back to the United States, I found it much less nerve-racking. In regards to being nervous about some specific activities, I felt more comfortable once other people talked to me about them. Also, getting to know the professors and other people on the trip better definitely gave me reassurance about doing some of the things we did. For example, I was the most nervous about bungy, but after seeing other people do it first, and after I had a conversation about it with them, my nervousness turned into pure excitement.

Finally, I mentioned how I wanted to learn something about myself, and how I hoped to achieve a personal development goal of mine from this program. Specifically, I said that I really wanted to work on being more independent. Looking back on it, I think I learned a little bit about being independent. For instance, we were required to keep track of all of our belongings and borrowings. Although, I believe a different area of my skills was improved, and that would be time managing my days better. For instance, we were asked to have our coursework complete, and I had to manage my time well if I wanted to have a good time outside of the classroom. Therefore, I definitely met the goal that I set for myself, and accomplished another one at the same time.

Looking ahead, I wholeheartedly believe that this program was really good for me. I made amazing connections and friends in the process, and I learned about a culture different from my own. Long-term speaking, this experience and its memories will stay with me for my whole entire life, and I realize that I am extremely fortunate for being able to do such a cool thing that not a lot of people are able to do. Also, if I am lucky enough to break into the sports industry, I will be able to leverage it in my favor. What I mean by that is I am apart of a small number of U.S. citizens who saw a sports culture that is vastly different from our own, and I will look at American sports from a different lens for the rest of my life.

Last thing I have for you guys is a link to a video I made which highlights every city that I traveled to in New Zealand. Hope you like it!

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UkO2I6X2lYAmbEdEcwSjbN-Vg61NOk6U/view

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 14: Sweet Axe Throwing (writer’s choice)

Due to some extra money in the program’s budget, we were able to add an additional activity in our agenda. Because of this, the professors wanted to surprise us with a mystery activity. After much anticipation, we discovered that we were going be doing axe throwing with the group. That caught me off guard at first because that sounded like an extremely dangerous activity. I had seen pictures and videos of people doing axe throwing on social media in the past, but I had never actually done it myself. Since I had a goal of saying yes to everything offered to me on this trip, I decided that I was up for the challenge.

The guides began by showing us a tutorial on how to properly throw an axe at their targets they had set up for tourists. In all honesty, it was far too easy to throw an axe than it should be. I was hitting bullseyes left and right in our warm up round. After an hour or so, the axe throwing “experts” transitioned to throwing us in a double elimination axe throwing tournament. I was really impressed with myself, making it all the way to the semi-finals of the tournament, eventually losing to some guy with the same first name as me. 

Despite my failure to bring home the axe throwing championship trophy, I was content with my performance. Not to mention, I had a fantastic time while doing it. Specifically, all of us got to pick from a shelf full of crazy hats and other props to wear while we were participating in axe throwing. In regards to how axe throwing fitted in with our sports centered program, I was not sure that it did. Then, I thought about it a little more, and it matched up with the common New Zealand identity, which involves sport. Instead of paying great dues of money and care to commercializing sports, the country is more concerned with community sport. Furthermore, New Zealand is keen on keeping their citizens active and involved in recreational sport. Hence, axe throwing was an example of this. All in all, I checked a really unique thing off of my bucket list. Great experience!

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 13: Waiheke Island (writer’s choice)

It takes about a 15 minutes ferry ride to get to Waiheke Island from Auckland. After hearing people who previously went on the trip rave about Waiheke Island, I was sold. It did not take long to convince me either. They described it as the most surreal beach that you will ever lay your eyes on, and that is exactly what it was.

A great deal of people from the program took the trip to Waiheke Island, but I traveled there with the small group that I had spent most of my time with consisting of Dave Klauke, Teddy Roberts, Parker Hess, Hunter Lutz, Anna Grace Smith, Robin Wilson, Nicole Naylor, and Emily Chernoff. 

Once we arrived, we took a stroll on the beach. Then, after some time, we decided on the absolute best place to set up “camp”. We laid down our beach towels, turned our speaker on, took off our shirts and flip flops, and ran to the ocean water to cool off. They were not lying when they said sunscreen is imperative at Waiheke Island. After a few minutes of swimming in the ice cold ocean, we agreed that the water refreshed us enough to take a break from it. The next order of business was to crack open our beers and pop the cork from our wine bottles. Obviously we were not going to have a day at this beach without drinking a little booze. We were all legal to drink alcohol after all. 

For about four hours, we repeated the cycle of tanning on our towels and then swimming in the ocean. During my time at Waiheke Island, I made sure to appreciate the landscape that was in front of me. The island was an unforgettable experience, and it is in contention for my favorite day of my study abroad experience. Not to take away from the structure of the program, but everyone agreed that we had little time to ourselves to relax and appreciate the fact that we were on the other side of the planet. If we had one more day here, I would really want to spend it at Waiheke Island. 

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 12: The Public Historical Marker

Throughout my time in New Zealand, I have came across a significant amount of historical markers, monuments, and symbols that commemorate the past. All of them were intriguing, but the history of Signal Hill in Dunedin especially spoke to me. Signal Hill is located at the head of the Otago Harbour and reaches an incredibly high elevation of 1,289 feet. The most interesting part of Signal Hill to me was the large stone which was located near Dunedin’s Centennial Memorial. 

Andy Grainger, one of the professors on our program told me a story about the background of this stone. The stone itself comes from Edinburgh, Scotland. Andy explained that there is an everlasting bind between the cities of Edinburgh and Dunedin. Furthermore, he went on to tell me that Scottish people founded the city of Dunedin. Also, he said, “in fact, the word Dunedin actually means Edinburgh in Scottish Gaelic”. All of these ties have brought the two cities together as sister cities.

In general, Dunedin is one of the oldest cities in New Zealand, and the historical aspect that it contains makes it special. The Signal Hill stone serves as a really important historical marker for New Zealanders, and it is meant to be apart of the nation’s public memory in order to remind New Zealanders of the history of their existence.

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 11: The Sports Event

On Sunday, January 12th, our group traveled to Spark Arena in Auckland for a 5:00 tip-off time to see the Sky Sport Breakers take on the Brisbane Bullets. If you were wondering what those teams are, they are men’s basketball teams. Furthermore, the Breakers are the lone team from New Zealand in the National Basketball League (NBL). The NBL is made up of mostly Australian teams, with the Breakers being the exception.

Our professors actually set us up with a nice opportunity to see the arena before the doors even opened. However, that meant we had to usher the people with court side tickets to their seats until the game started. On the bright side, I have a new experience that I can possibly throw on my resume. 

From the start, I noticed immense differences between NBL basketball and the basketball I am accustom to watching in the United States. First, the talent level was considerably lower than the NBA, but it was still professional basketball. Therefore, their skills and capability were still far and away more polished than college basketball players in the states. Considering all things, I would compare the NBL to the NBA’s farm league, called the G-League. 

There are a number of reasons why basketball is less advanced in New Zealand compared to the United States. Most notably is the lack of concentration of developing youth basketball players. With that being said, basketball is becoming more popular among youth in New Zealand, and because of this, a lot of experts believe that the future of basketball in New Zealand is on the rise. Another obvious difference aside from the basketball talent is how the commercial events are staged. For example, Spark Arena, which is the Breaker’s home court and home to other events such as concerts is very underwhelming compared to venues in America. The arena can only hold up to twelve thousand people. In comparison, the United Center in Chicago has a capacity of up to twenty three thousand.

The absence of exceptional sports venues was a pattern vastly throughout New Zealand. I analyzed why this was, and I came to a conclusion that people in New Zealand are more concerned with playing competitive and active sports themselves instead of spending their time supporting their professional athletes at their games. The special case is the All Blacks rugby team. Hence, it does not make much sense for Sport New Zealand and other organizations involved in funding sport around the country to invest heaps of money into high level sports and their stadiums. Their top priorities are community sport and the country’s performance on the world stage. Whether that will change or not in the future remains to be seen. 

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 10: Queenstown Golf Experience (Writer’s Choice)

Given that my whole Queenstown experience is definitely going to go down as one of my favorite memories of my young adult life, it is not a knock on the round of golf I played at the Queenstown Golf Club to say I enjoyed other things that we did more. I say that because the other things I did consisted of cliff jumping, ATV riding, and bungy jumping, and those things were obviously going to be hard to beat. 

With that being said, I will never forget that golf course. To give some insight, we took about a five minute ferry ride over from town to get to the course. I golfed with Hunter Lutz, Parker Hess, and Teddy Roberts, all people who I did not know before this trip. It was great because our tee time was super late, and because of that, we had the whole course to ourselves. We ended up playing 10 holes because the head pro told us that he would be gone by the time we got back, and all we had to do was put our carts back where we found them. In spite of my terrible score, I had the time of my life. In all honesty, the views were enough to keep me content. It is impossible to give the course justice just by describing it with words, but I will do my best. Picture being on a small island that only consists of a golf course. Then, think about that same golf course being surrounded by crystal clear water and jaw-dropping mountains. Oh, and you had a perfect view of Queenstown from most of the holes. It was without a doubt the most unforgettable golf round of all-time for me. It was truly difficult to focus on the game with the scenery around you. I guess it’s time to work on my golf game.

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 9: The Museum

The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in Dunedin was one of the places we traveled to as a group. There were a lot of interesting pieces of history in the museum, but the story about David Gallaher intrigued me the most. Gallaher was apart of the first ever rugby match for New Zealand. Also, he was a captain for the All Blacks on their pathfinding tour. Unfortunately, Gallaher was killed in the army on October 4, 1917 in World War I. His story really stuck out to me because he was a star rugby player who put his life on the line when he enlisted in the war, and I thought that was really inspiring. Tragically, there were actually thirteen All Black players who were killed in action. Their courage and ability to put aside their passion for the game of rugby in order to make a difference on the battlefield made me appreciate those people immensely. All in all, their legacies will be remembered forever in New Zealand.

If you want to learn more about Gallager and his life, click on this link: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/david-gallaher

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 8: The Imagined Space

The New Zealand men’s rugby team plays a prominent role in constructing New Zealand culture, and it is hard to describe what it means to be a New Zealander without mentioning the All Blacks. Every four years, the All Blacks participate in the Rugby World Cup against the top international rugby teams. There are many other sporting events happening all around New Zealand all the time, but the Rugby World Cup is extra special to New Zealanders. This particular tournament brings the whole country together, and it is attached to the creation of an imagined sense of community between the citizens of New Zealand.  Due to the popularity of rugby and the historical success of the All Blacks, a sense of identity exists for the team and rugby fans in New Zealand. 

Part of their identity consists of dominating the rest of the world at the Rugby World Cup. Since the creation of the Rugby World Cup in 1987, the All Blacks are tied with South Africa for the most titles with three. Every four years, the All Blacks get to display their immense talent to the rest of the world at the Rugby World Cup. At the same time, fans of the All Blacks get to shoot shots of pride into their veins.

If you are from New Zealand, then you are most likely a fan of the All Blacks. Furthermore, you probably care more about the success of the All Blacks than any other sports team. You wait four years to see your All Blacks play on the big stage, and then you spend the rest of your time talking about the All Blacks.  That shared pride for one team is unparalleled compared to other countries. This community, consisting of the All Black players, managers of the All Blacks, and fans of the All Blacks is extremely unique and is made up of people from all over the country. Their support for their All Blacks is unmatched. 

Before each match at the Rugby World Cup, the players participate in a famous ritual called a Haka. The Haka that the All Blacks do is used for a number of reasons such as tradition, pride, and intimidation. Furthermore, the uniforms that the All Blacks wear have a fern on them. That symbol is extremely renowned, and is arguably the most meaningful symbol to New Zealanders. The haka and the fern are parts of the culture that define the All Blacks and their fans who praise them.

Below is a link to the All Blacks’ famous Haka:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiKFYTFJ_kw 

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 7: The Nation

To be a New Zealander, it means you are unique for a number of reasons. If you are a New Zealander, there are not a lot of people in the world like you. The population of New Zealand is only about five million people. If you did not know this, New Zealand is a British colony. In 1840, a treaty was signed by representatives of the British Crown and Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand. The country has come a long way since then, as it has become modernized and commercialized in various cities.

New Zealand people have a distinct accent that is highly recognizable. As a whole, New Zealanders are extremely friendly and outgoing too. They tend to stray away from being judgmental, and have a large amount of pride about their country. Also, people from New Zealand love to make jokes and laugh out loud. Although, in certain settings, New Zealanders prefer to stay quiet while they appreciate their beautiful scenery. I have come across witty people, as well as people with reserved personalities. Finally, New Zealand people do not obsess over their looks, and most New Zealanders dress very casually. Solely based off of the way they dress, it is pretty easy to spot a New Zealander. Obviously there are exceptions, but all in all, their accents and the distinct word choice that they use in conversation are all giveaways. For example, they say cheers a ton. 

Here is a link to some examples of Kiwi slang: https://www.absolutebus.co.nz/kiwi-slang

New Zealanders love talking about sports, and they are extremely passionate about their national teams. Over everything else, they cherish their national rugby team called the All Blacks. The logo for the All Blacks is a fern that is highly regarded as a more important symbol than the nation’s flag itself. When we were in Auckland, we were lucky enough to participate in an intensive rugby training session from a former All Black player, Ant Strachan. He showed us the basic fundamentals of the game through demonstrations and drills, and then at the end of the session, we participated in an a New Zealand rugby pregame ritual. It was really cool to partake in such a special tradition, especially because the All Blacks are known as one of the best rugby teams on the planet.

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 6: The Conversation

It was three in the morning, New Zealand time. Dave Klauke, Teddy Roberts, and I had just gotten back from the Octagon in Dunedin. We sat down at the Cumberland College cafeteria tables, and suddenly there were three New Zealanders sitting across from us at our table too. Politely, we engaged in conversation with them. Then, the small talk began. 

After some back and forth questions and answers, one of the girls abruptly asked us what we thought about Donald Trump. We all agreed that he is a good leader, but says very questionable things at times. The New Zealanders responded by telling us that they think he is a bad person, and says very questionable things at times. All of us agreed with them about Trump’s character, but we told them he has been a good president so far. Also, we reminded them that the president could easily end up winning the next election too. We went back and forth with them for awhile, but finally the political discussions came to a halt. 

Their opinions really perplexed me because it was baffling to me that these people from New Zealand were sharing their opinions about our president with us, when I cannot imagine that they are extremely educated about American politics. I am not saying that everyone can’t have their opinions about things. However, it was unsettling how they were bashing our president straight to our faces. The facts are they are from a country thousands of miles away from the Untited States, and they somehow had the courage to talk down on our country’s leader when his actions do not directly affect them. On the other hand, we actually live with Trump’s decisions, and typically discuss American politics on a daily basis. Also, for as much as New Zealanders expect Americans to respect their country’s culture and politics, I think it was hypocritcal for them to disrespect our president so easily. Their take on American politics was really interesting to me because it prompted me to think about Donald Trump’s global reputation and I wondered if other foreigners have the same perception about him around the world.

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 5: The Queenstown Entry

Queenstown consists of a busy little town surrounded by colossal mountains and adjacent to a beautiful, sparkling lake. In regards to the views that Queenstown provides, they remain undefeated. Our group stayed in a cabin-like accommodation with a common area, and each person was assigned a roommate, with that person being the same gender as them. Separate from the other parts of the trip, we were given two full days of free time in Queenstown. How we chose to spend those days was completely up to us. Although, everybody in our program decided to participate in some sort of action sport.

The action sports tourism industry is an integral part of Queenstown. Everywhere you look in town, businesses are promoting their offerings through the utilization of different marketing tactics. Then, consumers give their money to them in exchange for an extraordinary, adventurous activity. These businesses are important for the economy of the city, as well as for the maximization of the landscape. Furthermore, the industry puts Queenstown in a class of its own. You name an action sports activity, they have it. Considering all the things that make up Queenstown, it is clear as day why the city is considered to be the adventure capital of the world.

While I was in Queenstown, I chose to engage in a number of activities during my free time. On the first day, I partook in a unique off road adventure. I spent the first half of that day on a quad bike safari (ATVs). It was the first time in years that I hopped on an action sports motor vehicle, but likely we were led by a guide. Overall, it was the most enjoyable activity that I did in Queenstown. After I rode ATVs, we ventured off to a 10 meter cliff jump to conclude the day. On the second day, I woke up at the break of dawn for bungy jumping. For people who are thinking about doing bungy, I highly recommend it. Also, coming from a person who has been haunted by heights for my whole life, I promise there is nothing to be worried about. In fact, the organizer at the action sports hub specifically noted that bungy is the safest activity that they offer. After bungy, the boys who I have spent most of the trip with and I headed to the Queenstown Golf Club where we played the most memorable golf round of our lives. Although nobody hit a hole in one, it was the perfect way to cap off our day. All in all, Queenstown was undoubtedly the coolest place I have ever traveled to. I will never forget it, and I hope to be back one day.

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 4: Facing my Fear (Writer’s Choice)

All throughout my upbringing, I have been absolutely terrified of heights. A constant pattern that I found myself always doing was passing up opportunities to face this fear I had. Whether that consisted of squandering opportunities to ride the tallest rollercoaster, or refusing to tour the tallest building in a city. Whatever it was, I simply could not get myself to conquer this anxious feeling that would flow throughout my whole entire body. Now, as I am becoming a man, I want to stab this fear that I have lived with in the heart. I believe that there is no better way to do that than jump off a 43 meter bridge tied to a bungy chord in the adventure capital of the world. 

That is right. You got it. I am doing this thing. I am not doing this for the adrenaline rush that I will get, or the card that I can use to brag about my experience. Obviously, it is a unique thing to bungy jump at the place where it was created. However, the underlying motivation for me is to face my fear of heights. More than anything, this is a personal accomplishment that I know will free my mind from the “I can’t do this” mindset that I have carried with me. Alright, this is where I stop thinking about this adventurous activity that I have scheduled for the morning. Remember, my mind is not free YET. Thinking about it is the last thing I need to be doing. Just know when it’s all over, I will be a more content person.

#wishmeluck

[willzadnik]

Blog entry 3: The Current Event

One of the biggest ongoing stories in the news right now is the bushfires happening in Australia. Obviously, Australia and New Zealand are not the same, and New Zealand luckily is not having bushfires. With that being said, the country experienced impact smoke blowing all the way over from Australia. Specifically, the orange smoke traveled to Auckland, which happened to be the exact city I was in at the time.

Our group was wandering around New Zealand’s largest city, and all of a sudden the sky turned completely orange. In the moment, most people were startled because it was like 2:30 p.m. and it looked like the sun was about to set. 

Here is a link to read more about the event:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12298143

It was a truly surreal sight, and once it became clear that I was encountering the aftermath of the bushfires, my mood shot down. I instantly began to think about all of the people, animals, and nature that are hurting from the fires. I assume New Zealanders felt similar to what I was feeling, except worse. The Australian bushfires are leaving an impact on New Zealand society physically and emotionally. Considering the fact that the two countries connect to each other in so many ways, it must be absolutely devastating for them.

[willzadnik]

Blog entry #2: The Food Entry

Food and the way you dine out in New Zealand is a really important aspect of the culture here. Some interesting differences between the New Zealand food culture and American food culture includes how you are not expected to tip your waiter, and how you have to split your checks up manually if you are dining with a large group of people. In regards to the food itself, it is extremely high quality and diverse. Also, the restaurants do a great job shoving as much food in your face as possible. The high quality food standard was the reason for my disbelief when I began to projectile my lunch into a trash can in my room. I ate the spicy fried chicken pictured above. The first thought that came to my mind was food poisoning. Although, I went to the hospital and the doctor was convinced that I had a virus. Either way, whether my sickness was food poisoning or just a virus, I was out of commission for the first two full days of our trip.

[willzadnik]

Blog entry #1: Welcome to my blog

Kia ora (hello) friends and family!

I want to welcome you all to my blog. The purpose of this blog is to reflect upon, critically analyze, synthesize, and apply the information that I gain from the Sport, Management, and Culture in the Global Marketplace: New Zealand Study Abroad Program that I am about to take part in. In my first post, I want to say what I am excited about, one thing I am nervous or uncertain about, one thing I hope to learn from the program, and a few of my personal development goals. First, I could not be more excited to meet local New Zealanders, ask them questions about their lives, and compare and contrast their culture with my Ohio/American roots. Obviously, this trip is going to be an adventurous one, hence I do not want to discount my excitement about what the program has planned for me. On the other hand, it is pretty much inevitable that taking a leap of faith across the world to the Southern Hemisphere will bring on some nervousness and uncertainty to my mind. Honestly, I am nervous about some of the activities that we will be partaking in, but I am ready to conquer my childhood fears such as being afraid of heights. In regards to the steep, everyday learning curve that I am living, I hope to learn if I am truly a homebody, or if I feel like I want to venture outside of Ohio for my post-graduate life. I believe that traveling this far without my family will shed light on the answer to that internal question that I cannot help myself from asking. Finally, I want to work on some of my personal development goals. One of them being becoming more independent. Soon I am going to be in the real world, and it is not that I do not appreciate my parent’s help in life, but there are certain things that I need to start working in my life without their assistance. Again, I want to reiterate my utmost appreciation for all of the things that my family has done for me thus far, including allowing me to go on this trip. I can’t wait to share this experience with the people closest to me through this blog. Please stay tuned for more posts while I am in New Zealand!