I headed out early in the morning from my host family’s house, making my way for the free bus that would take me to TAFE. The air was still cool and crisp, the sun rising slowly bringing with it all of the activities that were planned for the day. It was going to be a long, but exciting day.

We all met at the school, but would quickly disperse to our respective academic areas of study: business, engineering, horticulture and nursing. This was the first day we would begin our program studies at the college and we were all eager to get started. I traveled by bus with my fellow classmates to the agricultural Yallah Campus that sits on 72 hectares. We attended class with the students in the arboriculture program where we learned about tree risk assessment. After class we went into the field to use our new knowledge to perform our own assessments.

After a lovely lunch that was prepared for us by the school, we then made our way to Port Kembla for our industry visit with BlueScope Steel. In business since 1915, they produce steel plates and rolled coil for building and construction. Safety is a high priority and taken very seriously, so we were all given personal protective gear to wear, including helmets, eyeglasses and gloves. Traveling through the plant on the bus, we all became fully aware of the enormity of the plant. It is so large that it has its own power plant on site, providing 25 percent of its power. Once we arrived at the building housing multiple Basic Oxygen Steelmaking furnaces, we climbed up four stories to get a glimpse of the vessel that would melt iron and scrap steel down into what looked like lava. The massive cauldron spit out sparks as giant imposing flames battled to escape. Once melted down, the vessel is tipped over and the liquid steel is molded into slabs. The heat from it penetrates right through you as you stand in awe at the magnitude of the whole production. It is a sight to be seen.

After all the excitement from our days activities, we were in for a real treat as we all arrived back at TAFE’s Twenty Twenty Restaurant for our welcome dinner and fundraiser. The dinner was a recognition of the three year partnership between TAFE and Gateway Technical College’s exchange program, and the dinner was produced by the TAFE culinary and hospitality management students. At the dinner we met and dined with the Australian exchange students that would be arriving at Gateway in the fall. The gourmet food that was prepared by the students was exquisite with an Australian theme which included raw kangaroo and barramundi, a freshwater fish found in New South Wales. The evening was an absolute delight.

Tracy Bell