by Tommy Steele

The last three weeks have flown by and I have been studying hard and finishing off many assignments before our spring break! Currently, we are on spring break and I didn’t have too many plans to travel far around the country like some of the other international students. Some have gone to Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico and Mexico! As a result, campus is really quiet and I have been spending time with friends who have also stayed here for the break.

However, recently I have been attending the University Water Polo Club training and I now realize how tough and exhausting this sport is! I also have been part of the University Swimming Club and a few weeks ago I competed at a University Swimming Championship event we attended at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill campus. Student swimmers from all over North Carolina Universities came to compete and some students also came from our neighbouring state of Virginia. From Wilmington, it was about a 3-hour drive and the campus is near one of the biggest cities in the state – Raleigh!

I competed in three events, 50-yard Freestyle, 50-yard Breaststroke and IM relay. I did fairly well considering I haven’t been training very long at all and some of these swimmers just missed out on being D1 athletes (US top athlete tier) in the latest time trial competition.

I was also invited to attend an exclusive sorority event which was hosted at a local brewery here in Wilmington. All the Sorority members invited their boyfriends/partners, some of whom are in the University Fraternities, to attend too. I met a lot of people! Before we got on our way, we signed in at the University and met everyone and then we went onto this incredible party bus that had arrived to take us to the brewery. Once we got there, we started getting photos in the photo booth, started socialising with one another and meeting new people and fellow students. I met a New Zealander who was on the soccer team here and after hearing so much about him, we hit it off and we had a lot to relate about being in the USA and how different it is to back in NZ.

I look forward to class beginning again next week, as some more University events are being held which I look forward to sharing all about next time!