Surf's up for our student ambassadors

Experience 

Being one of the Mayor’s International Student Ambassadors for the City of Gold Coast, I have the opportunity to taste the best of this sunshine city – most recently, I learned how to surf!

Well, it would be quite bizarre to express such feverish excitement at surfing with my Australian friends who are so familiar with it. Yet, it was indeed a great privilege for me to be introduced to surfing for the first time with the “experts” from Get Wet Surf School who taught our ambassador team how to stand on the board and ride the waves. At first, we started on the sand and followed their instruction to perform each step to stand on the board, which was really helpful for newbies (like many of us) to have a general understanding and preparation before we actually surfed. As soon as we were ready, we headed to the beach and, of course, surf time!

Many of us succeeded to stand on the board with the assistance of the instructors. It was just like any first times: we got hit a few times, fell down several times, but continued to try again until we reached success. It was more than just a feeling of accomplishing a challenge or exploring a new experience, it was fun to see my fellow ambassadors enjoying themselves and bringing positive energy to my day. Every time someone managed to stand up on the board, the whole crew screamed and cheered, followed by waves of laughter and lots of smiles.

Undoubtedly, it was an unforgettable day. Who says an international students' life is only about studying?