Sean’Hope Craig, Year 10, has recently returned from the USA after a ski-based exchange at The Dublin School. Read about Sean’Hope’s experience and achievements as she reflects on the wonderful opportunity:
I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend 12 weeks at The Dublin School in New Hampshire, USA doing a ski-based student exchange. The Dublin School is a co-ed boarding school that has world-class Nordic ski trails on their campus and a great ski program which I got to participate in. I was able to ski almost every day after school, participating in school races once a week and club races on weekends. In addition to ski training and racing, I was going to classes at school and managed to achieve quite well academically and in my sport.
Some of my achievements from the ski season include: competing in The Dublin School's girls A relay team (coming 4th at NEPSACs), racing in Eastern Cup club races, generally achieving well in school races and the coaches series, qualifying for the New Hampshire U16s team, and racing at the U16s Eastern Conference Championships. The Dublin School girls team came 2nd overall in the Lakes Region Championships.
The school classes were quite different to Merici. There were only about 10 students per class and the classes were quite specific. My favourite classes were Astrophysics and Film in Nature. I enjoyed the change in style and also learning without the pressure of assessments.
The main highlight of my exchange was being able to ski everyday and travelling with my ski team. What I missed most was my mum's cooking, my family and my friends here in Australia. However, it is quite easy to stay in contact thanks to social media and my family sent me over some Aussie snacks and treats to keep me going.
I had an amazing time skiing with The Dublin School and the DXC club. The exchange experience was amazing, and I gained a lot of independence because of it. I would highly recommend a student exchange to other Merici students if they get a similar opportunity. It has broadened my views and inspired me for further travels, skiing and to grow as a global citizen.
Sean'Hope Craig
