Flight Day(s) — Pre Boarding Thoughts

Photo by Ross Parmly on Unsplash

I am sitting at my gate holding my new passport using free airport WiFi. While I’m typing this, members of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC team are leaving the plane I’m about to board.

This summer went by so fast and I am now starting my commute to Australia. Looming ahead of me is 21+ hours of flight time out of NYC, but it will be worth it. I am still in disbelief that I get this opportunity to step out of my day job to do philanthropy work and work with changemakers. I am both excited and anxious for what is ahead.

Our team is Australia 1 and we will be the first CSC team going to Australia. We are fourteen IBMers from 8 different countries. I’m thrilled to be meeting them all in person since we have participated in weekly calls and training assignments (led by CSC alum, Stephen from Ecuador 4 Team) and chatted in Whatsapp over the summer. Our team will be working with two incredible organizations, Royal Flying Doctors Service and the World Wildlife Fund, and we have been divided into four teams. I am part of one of the RFDS teams along with Steve Mazzuca and Navneet Aujla.

My last week in the US has been a whirl of closing off my work for projects for the month, outreaching to people with expertise and resources in healthcare including many of my teammates, and spending time with friends. It didn’t help that I got sick over the weekend, but I am so glad to be better in time for this flight. Since my birthday is during this assignment, I spent last night celebrating early with my boyfriend having dinner in NYC. It was a great send off and happy to have his support for this trip.

I will be reading this book while on the flight.

When I think about this trip, 3 things I am looking forward to:

1. Using my technical skills in a new way and working in a new environment. I am stepping out of my comfort zone, but going in with determination and an open mind.
2. Seeing how I translate knowledge from this trip back to being in the US in both my work and my personal community involvement.
3. Exploring Australia and Brisbane. This country has always been on my list of places to visit and will be venturing the city with colleagues.

Boarding is starting soon, here I go! Thank you to everyone who sent me well wishes the past couple of days! Off I go to the other side of the world!