Commencement

com·mence·ment

kəˈmensmənt

noun

1. 1.

   a beginning or start.

     If there was one thing that surprised me about the University of New Hampshire's 146th Commencement, it was that the ceremony reflected the jovial and celebratory mood I was in that day. My brother even had a hard time convincing his co-workers that he had a good time there. Admittedly, most graduations are fairly dreary and dull; too much pomp. Contrary to the title, many think of the commencement ceremonies as a time to celebrate the achievements of the last four years, reminisce on good times, shrug off bad ones, and hug your friends goodbye. I think that the excited atmosphere, full of six packs hidden under robes and crowd surfing mascots and champagne fountains, reflected the true meaning of the event: a celebration to kick off the beginnings of our next steps in life.

     I felt the same electrifying excitement after returning to UNH last fall, following my study abroad experience in New Zealand, and my summer spent at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in NH. My last year at UNH went exponentially faster than my first, and even faster than my years in high school, which my parents have a hard time registering are long behind me. Even still, this past year was jam packed: with swing dancing, working with first-year students as an RA, the arduous process of applying to graduate schools, traveling to visit those schools, and taking some of the hardest courses I've had yet. My journey didn't stop when I came home from NZ, and if anything my personal journey had just begun. In the year since, I've learned so much more about myself, through both triumph and defeat.

   A good friend shared with me a quote by Seth Godin:

Coming and going matter far more than what happens in the middle.

Opening things.

Closing them.

Tearing off the bandage.

Losing something.

Meeting someone new.

Getting on the airplane, getting off of it.

Being greeted.

Elections.

Ending a feud.

We mistakenly spend most of our time thinking about, working on and measuring the in-between parts, imagining that this is the meat of it, the important work. In fact, humans remember the transitions, because it's moments of change and possibility and trepidation that light us up.

     Thinking back to all that has happened in the last four years, and arriving at UNH with a clean slate, I am hopeful about my ability to find community and friendship wherever I go. See the neon blob of marching band freshmen in our class photo back from August of 2012. Reflecting on my time at UNH, the fond memories of the depths of winter are overshadowed by the strength of my memories of arriving back on campus every year and meeting new friends in marching band camp and RA training. The end of my time at UNH did not come with everything tied up in a neat bow. For those friends with whom I'll stay in touch, no doors were closed. On the contrary, in the last year losing some people from my life was a moving and painful experience. In some ways my time at UNH won't really end, and my reflections on that time will continue for years to come.
      I find myself in the same place as four years ago. At the moment that I'm preparing to make the next big step in life and travel out the Michigan for graduate school, I travel back four years to my arrival at UNH, and think of how intimidating and exciting it all was. When others are asking if I'm nervous for this big move, I'm thrilled about the commencement of this part of my life, and all that it will mean for the future of my career, the breadth of my experience in new places and traveling, and for the opportunity to examine myself at this moment of transition.

More to follow on my road trip to Michigan!
-Tyler

Messages from 2015

SEA Semester/New Zealand Archive

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SEA Semester: The Global Ocean, NZ

     

       Departure                                Bay of Islands updates

         

    Week 1                                            a KEY to    

                        Auckland to Bay of Islands              lingo aboard the RCS                          

            Week 2                                    A day in the life....

Bay of Islands and at sea                      aboard the RCS      

     

Week 3                                        Week 4
Land Ho! Cook's Straight                  Windy Wellington    

     

Week 5                                              Week 6  

   South We Go!                                The Final Voyage

Other Posts

SEA Semester Photo Album

Kiwi Experience Bus Adventure!

     

Week 6 (cont.)                                  Week 7  
The Adventure Continues...              The Wild West Coast    

     

Week 8                                            Week 9

Farewell South Island                   Kia Ora! North Island

      

   Week 10                                        New Zealand

Return to Auckland                               and Beyond      

Other Posts

     

Kiwi Experience Photo Album               Cruise Track Map          

Cruise Track and NZ Travel

I've put the S-257 cruise track and my Kiwi Experience tour on this map, so you can see that I truly circumnavigated the entire country! Flying to and from NZ was almost 18,500 miles; the S-257 cruise from Auckland to Christchurch was about 2,300 miles, and my bus tour on the South and North Islands was also about 2,300 miles.

Week 10: Return to Auckland

The final leg of my voyage, following the saga of last week, saw the surroundings going by a bit slower, with time to soak it all in, and time for reflection. I spent a leisurely few days making my way from Wellington back to Auckland, where this adventure began and would soon end. But before that, I will continue my narrative per usual.

13-April
Unfinished business in Wellington included a visit to the famed Weta Workshop, the fourth largest special effects and prop design studio in the world (the other top three are in the US). With my friends Luke and Ruth, we gawked at helms, swords, and armor from the Lord of the Rings movies, as well as weapons from District 9 and Avatar.

14-April
A final farewell to Wellington. NZ Route 1 rose from farmland to the Desert Road and the Central Volcanic Plateau, where now the mountains are covered in a blanket of snow. It was a brisk 10 degrees C, at 2,600 feet, before descending to Taupo.

16-April
I've diverted from my planned itinerary and taken a pit-stop in Rotorua, to catch up on the some of the scenery I missed last time! I visited Lake Rotorua and Sulfur Bay, where boiling pools of water and mud are right along the trail. I also managed to get out of town for a visit to the Redwood Forest trails.

17-April
The final leg of my journey, back to the beginning. Our bus pulled into Auckland in the early afternoon. I took time to visit the waterfront and sit on our hostel's penthouse porch on the 8th floor, to soak in the city. Tomorrow I head for the airport to leave NZ behind.

Week 9: Kayaking, Caving, and Hobbits, oh my!

Just a note about this absolutely crazy week...It's not often that you can kayak the Pacific coast, go glowworm caving, visit the Shire and a Maori village, stand next to geysers, jump out of a plane, hike around huge volcanoes, and go grade 5 white water rafting all in 7 days, but it's a lot to soak in, and you learn pretty quickly how the spirit of adventure can overpower comfort levels and you end up sitting down at the end just still processing what you've just done. It's not about a bucket list or bragging rights, though it's a crazy story to tell, and amongst new friends and fellow travelers is the best way to do it. This adventure isn't over yet, and I certainly won't try to top this week, but it has inspired in me a new drive to go with whatever and enjoy the ride, soak in the scenery, and reflect on the experience.

6-April

It’s a new group of friends that I’m departing Auckland with, and quite a change in scenery as well as we drive through the fertile farmland and rolling hills of the Waikato region. Soon enough we were driving through the bush-covered hills of the Coromandel Peninsula, and to our destination at Hot Water Beach. There’s plenty of volcanic history in the region, along with relic hot springs seeping out at the beaches, hence the name. We were picked up straight away to begin our kayaking adventure along the coastline to Cathedral Cove, past huge white cliffs, sea-stacks, through the Te Whanganui-A-Hei Marine Reserve. It’s not often that your tattooed and muscular kayak guide turns into a beach barista serving cappuccinos. We kayaked through archways in the warm Pacific waters, and managed to beach ourselves successfully, before heading back to our private Kiwi Ex lodges at the Hot Water Beach Holiday Park.

7-April

For real this time, enjoyed my last sunrise over the Pacific, and we’re off again. We visited the town of Paeroa to sample the World-Famous in NZ L&P soda, and see their giant L&P statue. Most towns famous for anything will probably have a giant rendition somewhere to proclaim it. This evening I suited up with my new mates in wetsuits and harnesses for our glowworm caving adventure with the guides at the Blackwater Rafting Co. It was my first time abseiling into the black hole in the ground, but nerve-racking as it was, I made it 35 meters down pro-style. Our adventure continued with a flying fox (aka zip-line) through the abyss under glowworms on the ceiling, and a 9 meter jump into the underground river with our inner-tubes. After floating around under what appeared to be a galaxy in the night sky of blue glow worms, we explored into the depths of the caves, with some very cold swimming, eel encounters, and climbing up roaring waterfalls. We emerged from the black depths some hours later, but not realizing it until the cave walls turned suddenly into tree trunks, glowworms still glowing in the tree canopy. 

8-April

Yes, today is the day we’ve all been waiting for. The day to explore the Shire! Hobbiton village looks just as it did in the movies, and despite the overcast skies everything is so bright! From the painted doors to the gardens full of flowers and vegetables, it’s the place I’ve always dreamed of! The attention to detail was incredible, down to the fake moss on the fence posts. Yes, I geeked out quite a bit, but from Bag End over the bridge by the mill house to the Green Dragon, this place is just magical. And so is the pork pie and ale. Not far away is Rotorua, the cultural hotspot of New Zealand, and home to a thriving Maori culture. It also smells like sulfur though. Tonight our small group was welcomed to the Tamaki Maori Village, where we were led to our own traditional style sleeping house, introduced to flax weaving and stick games, and practiced a bit of song for performance later. Rejoined by the Kiwi Ex crew, formalities were held to enter the village itself and we engaged in cultural activities from learning the haka to watching poi performances. We stuffed ourselves at the hangi, which we watched get pulled from the cooking pits and served. Our special treatment at the overnight stay included our own hot pools and bonfire.

 9-April

Very sad to leave our beautiful accommodation at Tamki, but we got to explore the thermal wonderland of Rotorua at Te Puia. Here was Austral-Asia’s highest geyser, sulfur and boiling mud pools, and the chance to hard-cook some eggs in a hot pool. The geeking out continued. It’s not far to Lake Taupo, and the rain didn’t detract from the amazing Huka Falls, where the Waikato River has carved a dramatic channel through the bedrock. The Waikato River is the longest river in NZ, and has 9 hydroelectric plants powering the region. There’s geothermal power too, and plumes of steam are regular across the landscape. 

11-April

The rain from yesterday has cleared, and the clear skies outside my window fill me with dread. Preceded by much anticipation, today I put myself to the test, and passed! Hard to believe as it is, I managed to stomach the nerve-racking flight up to 15,000 feet and jump tandem out of a plane! What's crazy is, for about 10 seconds you don't even realize what's happened, and after that you're falling at terminal velocity towards the ground, which doesn't appear to get any closer. Because you've stopped accelerating, it doesn't even really feel like falling, and is therefore much more enjoyable.

I managed to be really psyched the whole way down, and enjoy the unnatural feeling of free-fall and the scenery around Lake Taupo on our parachute ride down. The realization of what I'd just done continued to dawn later in the day, which was filled with more excitement as we did a small hike in the Tongariro National Park, on the flanks Mt Ruapehu to the Taranaki Falls. Eventually the high clouds cleared for views of Mt Ngarahoe and Tongariro, and the sun illuminated the alpine desert landscape and autumn colors. Summer may be on it's way out, but it's just as beautiful.

Rangitikei River, photo: River Valley
Adventure Lodge (not my boat)

12-April
As if I haven't already done enough this week including 'blackwater rafting' my mates and I staying at the River Valley Adventure Lodge donned wetsuits and thermals for some white water rafting. The rains of the last few days has driven the Rangitikei river into flood stage, and it had only slightly calmed down by this morning, at about 25 cumecs (almost 900 cfs!). Our group had a few 8-person rafts; mine with my friends Luke Heidi and Harriet, and our estimable bus driver Josh. The trip progressed from grades 1 to 4, from the Calm Before the Storm and The Storm rapids, including some perilous grade 5 rapids requiring precision maneuvering and teamwork in our paddling. We actually managed to keep the raft upright the whole time through the Fulcrum and Dog Leg rapids, though we weren't the least bit dry. It was a total blast though, and our raft fared pretty successfully over the trip, which ended far to soon. Alas, it seems too soon to be moving on again, but it's time to leave the Manawatu region for Wellington, the glorious capital city! With any luck, I can catch up on sleep from this week!