Rotary Alumni: A bond of friendship (and a new wife)
Wesley chose to come to New Zealand for his Ambassadorial Scholarship because it “offered the environment that I was looking for along with outdoor activities”. He was joined during the year by his girlfriend and they found that the “Kiwi’s” embraced them and they quickly formed a bond of friendship with the country and their host Rotary club. Their stay was meant to be one year and they ended up staying five. Although Wesley briefly returned to the USA at the end of the scholarship the couple quickly returned to Auckland where Wesley joined his former host club which then rallied round to help organise their wedding. The Ambassadorial Scholarship added to Wesley’s education but more importantly it broadened his horizons to a wider world with different ways of doing things and perceptions.
On returning home they have a greater appreciation of where they have come from, and returned to, but their experience has helped them to discover much more; how far they can stretch their comfort zone, that there are different cultures from their own that they can adopt aspects of and add value to their own lives, and the expectations can be challenged to recognise that there are other and sometimes better ways of doing things. Rotary’s Ambassadorial Scholarship made all this possible and was but a start to a new experience of life. As he becomes established in his career he intends to re-join Rotary but in the meantime his experience as a Rotarian in New Zealand has been his inspiration for becoming engaged in his home community.