Jacob Lothers: Christ Church Grammar School 2014

This past summer, I, along with my fellow classmate Si Deane, had the incredible honor of travelling half way around the world to study at Christ Church Grammar School in Perth, Australia. Being the first MBA students to participate in this respective exchange, we had little to no idea what to expect beforehand, but returned with a wealth of knowledge, appreciation, friendships, and memories that I expect we will never forget.

It took over 20 hours of total flight time for us to get from Nashville to Perth. Upon arrival, we were immediately confronted with the beauty of the coastal city, it’s vast and unique differences in everything, and even a taste of the Australian lifestyle. Running on merely three to four hours of sleep, we were brought straight to the beach by our host mother, Mrs. Jacqui, and brothers, Abe Forward and Ben Sloane, to go surfing.

 Si and I were both energetically starved by the time we retired to our new respective homes: I to stay with the Forward family, and Si to live in the boarding house with Ben.

After taking a day to recuperate with the loss of sleep and time change, from which my body never fully recovered, I immersed myself into life as an Australian student at Christ Church. The overall student body welcomed me with great hospitality, and I immediately befriended many of my host brothers’ classmates. I attended all classes that Abe did, ranging from basic Mathematics, English, and Science classes to specified lessons in boating and physical fitness. Si and I saw few classes together, but we reconvened every day during lunch.

I was honored with the position of foreign water boy at a footy game.

We were frequently bombarded with a slew of questions from students and teachers alike. We had even been asked at one point if we knew what fruit was; one of us amusingly replied by asking, “Is it a kind of meat or butter?”. We took the American jokes and stereotypes lightly, but after about a week or so we fully assimilated into the daily routine, and became familiar with our surroundings.

On weekends and after school we went took part in various social activities and excursions. On one day in particular, we were fortunate to miss a day of school to travel to Rottnest Island along with several other exchange students from schools such as Michaelhouse in South Africa. We biked around the island for several hours and played footy on the beach, despite the cold, as it was Winter in the Southern Hemisphere at the time.

Si Deane spreading his wings

One of my more frequent pastimes, however, was running around the neighborhoods of Cottesloe, where my host family lived, and to the beach, often times with Si accompanying me. One of these runs together was particularly meaningful, as it was after we received news of the untimely passing of one of our classmates, and Si’s extremely close friend, Wesley Tseng, back home. The sunset was especially spectacular that afternoon as we walked along the beach, coping with news, and remembering his presence.

sunset off the Indian Ocean

The last week of our time in Australia was spent in the city of Broome, far up north on the Western Australian coast, and at our host brother Ben’s family-owned resort, Eco Beach.

Local market

Eco Beach Dunes

Mac, master of crabbing

Cable Beach

 Here, our activities included hiking, fishing, crabbing, and shooting, all the while surrounded by the unique beauty of the landscape, defined by low brush and distinctive red sand. 

me, holding a crab that somebody else caught

Of course, we entered.

our continual obsession with sunsets

Cable Beach at Sunset

The most beautiful thing we saw there was unfortunately something we couldn’t take a picture of: the night sky. Given Broome’s extremely remote location, there was practically no ambient light whatsoever; you could literally see the Milky Way in its entirety, stretching all the way across the sky. We enjoyed the great hospitality of the Sloane family: Ben’s mother and father, as well as his aunt and uncle and their kids, who additionally housed and fed us for a number of days. Both families generously took us crabbing and introduced us to delicacies such as Kangaroo and Crocodile meat. Our last morning in Broome was spent riding camels along the city’s famous Cable Beach; it was an appropriately memorable last experience, consummating our adventure.

From there we flew back to Perth, spent one last night with my host family, and then embarked early the next morning for the long flight back to Tennessee. We were sad to leave, but eager to return to our lives, families, and friends at home.

Ever since my return, I must say that my life has been somewhat different than from what it was before, and for the better. The encroaching reality of college on the horizon doesn’t terrify me as much as it used to, and I’ve found myself to be more ambitious in taking advantage of life’s opportunities. I owe my utmost appreciation to the Warner family, Mr. Gioia, and MBA, for making such experiences possible for me and so many others. I must also express my immense gratitude to the Forward family (Mrs. Jacqui, Mr. Graham, Abe, Gideon, Harrison, Kalkidan, Emily, Hannah, Matilda, and Marcus), the Sloane family, and Christ Church Grammar School for their tremendous generosity in accommodating me and Si for several weeks.

I would encourage any interested underclassmen to apply for an exchange opportunity, regardless of the destination. However, I would biasedly recommend Christ Church, as it proved to be the perfect opportunity for me. The fact that I have been to Australia still amazes me to this day, and I will be forever haunted by the beauty of its geography, culture, and the people I’ve been privileged to meet throughout.