Around the World with Our Rams

Although we are wrapping up our third week since the start of school, there are many students who are reminiscing about their summer vacations. As international students, we travel all around the world to explore different places, make new memories, and catch Pokemons. Let’s take a trip and explore some of our Rams’ summer vacations.

Lisa Mo, a freshman, kick-started her summer vacation with a trip to Bali. Bali is known for its great scenery and activities on the island. Mo said, “The most memorable activity I did in Bali was wake boarding. It was the most fun experience for me.” Not only did she go wake boarding, she also tried surfing and whitewater rafting. For the majority of her summer, she was in the water. When asked to show a photo of her summer vacation, she showed a picture of the sky in Bali. Mo said that this photo reminded her of the great summer she had in Bali and said, “You won’t ever see this in Guangzhou.” We have our Asia part of summer, let’s see where we go to next!

Skipping to another continent, sophomore Sophie Elliott went back to the United States for her summer. She did not only stay in one state; however, she travelled from state to state with her family. Elliott explained, “We went to California first to visit my brother’s university, then to New York to see some of my mother’s family, then to Kansas to see my dad’s family and finally to Florida, where we have been going every summer since before I was born.” Elliott traveled to different states visiting her family members. Also, in preparation for the volleyball season, Elliott attended a volleyball camp at the University of Tampa. This was her second year attending this camp. Elliott said, “I feel like I improved a lot and that I got some good preparation and practice for the upcoming volleyball season.” Despite the fact that the camp was only a couple of days, they trained nine hours a day. Although it was really tiring, Elliott said that it went really well and that she enjoyed it.

To begin her summer vacation, junior Gwen Farm went to Malaysia. She ran a lot of errands and ate a lot Malaysian foods such as the “nasi lemak” and “asam laksa.” A week later, Farm and her family went back to Calgary for her brother’s first child. When asked about her nephew and what she thinks, Farm said, “It was really weird to see my brother as a dad, it’ll take a while.” A week later, she went to Los Angeles. She and her family went to different tourist spots such as Disneyland and Universal Studio. Despite all the fun recreation parks, Farm said, “My major highlight would be going to Santa Monica and taking dance classes in Hollywood with Matt Steffanina and Kenzie Crosley.” After another week, she went back to Calgary with her family and stayed there for a month. They went on mini road trips to Vancouver and Seattle and went to many outlets there. Farm also explored the outdoors and went hiking with her mom and others. Farm commented that “There are so many trails nearby Calgary. The best thing about hiking there is that it’s very fresh and soothing for me.” As an annual ritual, Farm went to the Calgary stampede dressed in a cowboy hat and boots. After a month, Farm went to the United Kingdom by herself for three weeks. During those three weeks, she went to a summer school at Cambridge. Farm said, “It was pretty exciting because I met some pretty amazing people there. I did [a] medical program so it introduced me to the world of medicine.” Farm also went on university tours. As a summer school program Farm travelled to Scotland. To end her summer, she flew back to Guangzhou with an internship waiting in her hands.

Our Rams vacations are full of fun and learning experiences. From continents to continents, we never stop having fun. We have definitely had one amazing summer vacation filled with fun, learning, and memories. It is safe to say that the Rams are counting down the days till their next summer!