HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-08-20, Page 6Chantal Warwick of Blyth is freshoff her Lions Exchange trip to
Australia, but she can’t wait to go
back.
Warwick spent over a month
Down Under, spending three weeks
with her host family, stationed out of
Mildura, then her final week at camp
with 36 other exchange students
from all over the world, a part of the
trip Warwick says was her favourite
part.
Upon arriving in Melbourne,
Warwick met her host family and
went straight to an Australian
football game.
Her host family consisted of Dave
and Kathy, two teachers and their
two children, Jack and Allison. Dave
and Kathy alternated their two
weeks of vacation so that one of
them was always there with
Warwick through her time in
Australia. Jack was busy studying at
a university in Melbourne while
Allison was working her way
through high school around Mildura.
While in Melbourne, Warwick and
her hosts embarked on a journey
down The Great Ocean Road. The
group travelled down the coast for
four days, seeing several Australian
attractions including the 12
Apostles, sand structures in the
water along the coastal road which
has since been cut down to eight.
Warwick also visited a very
famous gorge, Port Campbell
National Park, along The Great
Ocean Road. In this area was one of
Australia’s most famous boating
accidents where over 50 people died.
There were only two survivors and
they washed up at that gorge.
Warwick returned to Mildura
where she had time to relax for
several days.
Later, however, Warwick and her
hosts took a 10-hour drive, endingjust outside of Sydney whereWarwick took advantage of somemajor sightseeing and shopping,confessing to be a bit of a
shopaholic.
“I bought a lot of souvenirs for
people there and about five pairs of
shoes,” she said.
In and around Sydney, in addition
to the sightseeing and shopping,
Warwick said, they spent a lot of
time on the beach, which is some of
the most beautiful land she has ever
seen, she said.
She also spent some time seeing
the famous opera house in Sydney as
well as several of the arenas where
the 2000 summer olympics were
held and also attending a field
hockey match.
Eventually Warwick made her way
to the Lions camp where she said she
had the best time. There she made
friends with many of the other
travellers, of which there were over
35 from 14 different countries.
It was the free time when Warwick
had the best time, between 10:30
p.m. and midnight, despite a day full
of activities and sightseeing.
“All of us just sat in a big group
and talked at night,” she said. “We
talked about our home countries and
what we all did when we were back
home.”
Warwick, who has been to the U.S.
twice and the Dominican Republic
once, said she would definitely go
back to Australia again.
Australia was her first choice,
followed up by England and Italy.
She said she had heard very good
things about Australia and was
curious to see for herself.
If she goes again, however, she
plans on seeing The Great Barrier
Reef, which is in Northern Australia,
so she couldn’t see it on this trip.
Warwick says she had a great time
seeing all that Australia had to offer
as far as attractions are concerned,
but that the time she just spent with
the people was fun too.
“My host parents got together with
their friends every Friday and they’re
friends with some really great
people,” she said.
“The trip was life-changing. I
learned a lot about myself and who I
want to be,” she said. “It’s really
hard to explain, but it has a lot to do
with the friendships I made.”
She says she’s happy to say now
that she has friends all over the
world and she urges anyone
thinking about applying for the
Lions exchange program to just do
it.
PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009.
Great trip
Chantal Warwick, seen here at Port Campbell National Park, has just returned from her Lions
Exchange trip to Australia, a trip she called life-changing. Port Campbell National Park is
where just two out of 54 people survived a famous boat accident. This spot is where they
washed up on shore, along the Great Ocean Road. (Photo submitted)
Local girl can’t wait to go back Down Under
THE EDITOR,
Growing up I had an amazing
mother and father who could never
say enough how much they loved
me, and how beautiful I was to them.
I was given the best of what they had
to give and my happiness was
always what came first to them.
None of that mattered late at night
when I laid my head down and the
echoes of the day at school began
playing over and over again in my
mind. “Joanne’s fat!” They would
chant. “You’re not playing with us,
we don’t want you!!” “Shh, Joanne’s
coming. She’s not invited to my
party!!”
At first, as a very young child I did
not understand what the children’s
cruelty had to do with me. I was
always willing to share and always
as nice as I could be to the kids.
What had I done to make them hate
me the way they did? The answers
would never come, but the teasing
and rejection would.
I dreaded entering school come
September, knowing that my peers
would be there. I never knew if today
they would simply ignore me or if
today would be the day they taunted
me so that the night would end with
me sobbing into my pillow.
There was a constant humiliation
knowing you were not liked. There
was a constant intimidation of other
kids never knowing if they were with
or against you.
It never mattered that no child ever
physically assaulted me, or ever had
the use of a computer to further my
misery by invading the one safe
place I had, home.
I was a loving, happy child who
went out of my way to make others
happy. To see me you would never
know how scarred my heart and self
image were. You would certainly not
imagine that when the lights went
out at night that I would be lying,
amongst my dolls and Barbie’s,
thinking about how I could kill
myself.
Even before I understood the
enormous pain I would be inflicting
on myself the end seemed more
bearable then knowing I had to again
go to school and face a room full of
people who didn’t care that I was
broken down from their teasing, that
I would rather be buried that live
another day of teasing.
I was lucky; I had a mother who
was able to save me from myself.
She somehow was able to reach in
and pull me out of the hole that the
other kids had buried me in.
I am 31 now, and wonder where
the parents of my bullies were??
Surely they must have known that
when their children were going to
school, excited about a birthday
party that there would be children
not invited. Surely they must have
heard their children laughing and
making fun of another child in their
school. Wouldn’t they?
I am a parent of three now and I
wonder if I will be able to detect if
my own children are being bullied or
if they themselves are causing
someone else to be thinking about
suicide. I wonder what the teachers
will do if they hear my child being
taunted and made fun of. Although
words are just words, the scars they
leave never heal.
I am in a new community and have
made many new friends. I adore the
children and parents I have met and
look forward to watching our
families grow up together.
Let me be the first to extend an
open dialogue about my children
and the actions they make when I am
not around. Our children may be
immature but we as adults have the
education and ability to prevent
some child from carrying through
with what I would have done had I
not been stopped.
Let’s not make this a child’s issue
when it can clearly have a deadly
end.
Joanne Smith.
Letter to the editor
Parent addresses issue of bullying
Huron Perth Catholic District School Board
THE HURON-PERTH CATHOLIC
DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
STUDENT REGISTRATION
Parents may contact the following schools to register their children in Catholic
education during the week of August 24 to 28, 2009 or on the second day of
school,Wednesday, September 2, 2009.
SECONDARY
Perth County: Huron County:
St. Michael Catholic Secondary School St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School
240 Oakdale Avenue 353 Ontario Street
Stratford, ON N5A 7W2 Clinton, ON N0M 1L0
Telephone: 519-271-0890 Telephone: 519-482-5454
ELEMENTARY
Huron County:
St. Columban School St. Columban 519-345-2086
Our Lady of Mount Carmel School Mount Carmel 519-237-3337
St. Joseph’s School Clinton 519-482-7035
Precious Blood School Exeter 519-235-1691
*St. Mary’s School Goderich 519-524-9901
St. James School Seaforth 519-527-0321
Sacred Heart School Wingham 519-357-1090
St. Boniface School Zurich 519-236-4335
Perth County:
St. Patrick’s School Dublin 519-345-2033
St. Patrick’s School Kinkora 519-393-5580
Holy Name of Mary School St. Marys 519-284-2170
St. Mary’s School Listowel 519-291-3000
*Jeanne Sauvé School Stratford 519-273-3396
St. Ambrose School Stratford 519-271-7544
St. Joseph’s School Stratford 519-271-3574
St. Aloysius School Stratford 519-271-3636
*Jeanne Sauvé and St. Mary’s, Goderich are French Immersion.
For more information, please go to www.hpcdsb.edu.on.ca
Jim McDade, Martha Dutrizac,
Chairperson of the Board Director of Education
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen