Scott Roberts, a 21-year-old senior majoring in art from Centennial, Colo., spent two and a half months during the summer of 2007 studying abroad in New Zealand through the AustraLearn program.
Roberts, who credits his amazing experience to the help of the Office of International and Intercultural Programs (OIP) at Virginia Wesleyan, was unlike most students. He did not attend classes at a university or live on campus. Instead, he completed an internship with the New Zealand Affordable Art Trust, a non-profit organization with one annual art show a year that features artwork by local New Zealand residents, also known as “kiwis.”
Roberts’ internship gave him the opportunity to witness the annual art show, an experience he calls incredible, especially because he aspires to be a professional artist one day.
“The internship worked out great for me because I got to help with everything from setting up the show, dealing with artists, bringing in the artwork, running the show, to taking down the artwork,” said Roberts. A total of 1,000 artists participated in the show with roughly 3,000 pieces of artwork.
Living in Wellington, the capitol and southern most tip of the northern island, Roberts shared an apartment with eight other roommates and worked an average of 35 hours a week at his internship. Outside of working, he traveled extensively throughout the country, mainly by himself and by hitch-hiking.
“Hitch-hiking is a big way of life in New Zealand,” said Roberts, who visited the northern and southern islands, including his favorite destination, Mount Ruapehu, where he spent the day skiing.
Traveling solo may be lonesome for some, but not for Roberts. He relates the experience to that of his first year at Virginia Wesleyan. “When I came to college I didn’t know anybody and I was forced to meet people and make new friends,” said Roberts, recipient of the Fred W. and Frances S. Bateman Memorial Art Scholarship. “And I was forced to take that with me to New Zealand, and that is what I enjoyed the most.”
A men’s lacrosse player who is also a member of Chi Alpha Sigma, the national college athlete honor society, Roberts still keeps in touch with kiwis he met while traveling throughout New Zealand. He hopes to return to the country because “it has so many beautiful places and is the best of both worlds with the beach and the mountains.”