The Introduction

Last days In Kamloops. Embracing The Vibes

 Welcome to my Blog "Travelling Through Hoops"! I'm A 5th year University student from Thompson Rivers University currently on exchange at Universidad de La Sabana in Bogotá Colombia. I will be updating as much as I feel is needed for everyone out there to get a feel for what this misunderstood country/city is all about. I decided to call it "Travelling Through Hoops" for two reasons. The first one is that even though Basketball is not the main reason why I chose to come out here, I must admit that without Basketball I would definitely not be here. And by here I don't just mean the place I'm currently living, but also as in my development and progress in all aspects of my life. A question I get a lot is why would I leave beautiful Thompson Rivers University where not only was I part of one of the fastest developing Basketball programs on the west coast, but I was also Captain of the team and it paid for my education and other perks such as Travel throughout Canada and The United States. For me the answer is simple, by meeting Exchange students from Saudi Arabia to Easter Island at TRU, I came to realize that being able to travel and immerse yourself in a different culture is an invaluable experience that I think everyone should do, especially while we are young. And what better way to do it then by going to another University where you already have a group of thousands of like minded individuals with common interests and goals who are more than willing to accept you as one of there own, and help ensure you get the most out of your experience abroad.

The look of ________

The second reason I chose to call it Travelling Through Hoops is in relation to the phrase Jumping Through Hoops. If you are not familiar with this phrase the ever so credible thefreedictionary.com describes it as "to do a lot of extra things so you can have or do something you want". That describes my journey here thus far as I feel that if you really want to get something in this life you must do more than just the bare minimum, it requires a lot of extra work, time, discipline, risk and consistency amongst other things. I chose to come out here and my University sent me here to be what you can call a "guinea pig". They have no idea what to expect from the city and their partner University in Bogotá as the agreement is less than a year old and I am the first student to come to the Notorious Colombia, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I still have the same goals and aspirations as I did a year ago, but I want to challenge myself and take the path less traveled to see if I can make it happen abroad.
You can look forward to my video log series "Life of an Exchange Student in Bogotá". I feel will give you a better idea of what it's like out here because "If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million".

I will leave you all with my favorite quote about Travel from The Essay on Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"The soul is no traveller; the wise man stays at home, and when his necessities, his duties, on any occasion call him from his house, or into foreign lands, he is at home still, and shall make men sensible by the expression of his countenance, that he goes the missionary of wisdom and virtue, and visits cities and men like a sovereign, and not like an interloper or a valet."

Goodnight From Bogotá:

Jah Bless
Jah Guide
Jah Rule