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cindyatmonash - Cindy Youssef

In August 2006, I received the opportunity of a lifetime when I was named District 7750 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Since then, I've had some time to prepare myself, pack my bags and head to District 9810 in Melbourne, Australia! After arriving in February 2008, I began my postgraduate studies in International Relations at Monash University. I am so grateful to the Rotarians of both District 7750 and 9810 for this amazing and exciting opportunity. I am also thankful to Rotarians worldwide for their contributions to the Rotary Foundation and their efforts at engaging youth around the world in Rotary sponsored programs!

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Joined on: February 17th 2008
Last Login: August 27th 2009

Blog Entries: 24
Photos: 538

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by cindyatmonash, order by Date newest first.

By cindyatmonash
October 5th 2008

Spring Break '08: In SEPTEMBER?!? Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Great Ocean Road

Masters Students!
Some of the students in my program, out in the city: Ramona (Italy), James (Australia), Colin (Canada), and me

G'day Everyone! Hope you are all doing well and heading into a great change of season, whichever it might be :) This past week, I've just experienced my very own southern hemisphere "Spring Break '08!" Though it only lasted a week, it was a very busy and exciting time! We started our Spring Break celebrations a bit early, with our Roberts Hall Ball on Thursday night. The best way to describe this annual event would be to compare it to Prom, but with much less stress. Many of the departments at the university hold their own ball. For instance, during August [View Full Entry]

By cindyatmonash
August 27th 2008

Halfway done...but with what?!? Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne

Well, you'll all have to excuse the several posts from me all of a sudden!! I've had a chance to catch up on a few things so I thought I would go ahead and catch you up on what I have been doing since the second semester has begun at Monash! I realised that I haven't told you all what I've been doing in my new classes this semester!! I have two FANTASTIC classes this semester! These two units are my core subjects, meaning that they are compulsory for my degree program. The first course is a seminar called "Wars of [View Full Entry]

By cindyatmonash
August 25th 2008

It wasn't the athletes that made the Olympics so grand... Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne

Naomi
Naomi was all decked out for the Opening of the Games!

Well as we are all readjusting ourselves back to life without the intensity that was the Olympics, it has given me a bit of reflection time about what the past two weeks really meant to the USA, to Australia, and even to the world. It was definitely interesting to experience the Olympics somewhere other than your own home country! My friends invited me over to an Opening Ceremony party to celebrate the opening of the two weeks of non-stop sporting events. When I walked into the house, I was definitely reminded of the fact that I wasn't in the USA--there were [View Full Entry]

By cindyatmonash
July 30th 2008

APEC NZ Voices 2008: Christchurch, New Zealand! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch

Welcome!
Welcome to APEC session with university officials and APEC NZ Trustees

Well, as I mentioned in my previous posting, I headed down to Christchurch, NZ in July for two weeks of work/site-seeing. As you saw from my other pictures, the city was so fantastic! I loved being able to travel around and find beautiful scenery, very kind people, and a variety of wonderful attractions all around the city. However, the main reason I spent some time in Christchurch was my involvement with the New Zealand APEC Voices Program. Many of you know that I work with the Virtual Trade Mission International (VTMI) in organising APEC events. For those that don't know about [View Full Entry]

By cindyatmonash
July 22nd 2008

Semester Break Holiday: Off to Christchurch, New Zealand! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch

On the way!
On the way to NZ!!

Hello Everyone!! I thought I might take some time to share some photos and stories with you about my mid-year holiday trip to New Zealand!! As I was planning on going to New Zealand at the early part of July for an APEC conference (more on that in a separate post), I decided to build in a few days before the conference to explore and find my way around Christchurch, the "international gateway to the South Island"! I had a wonderful couple of days and got to meet heaps of very interesting people while traveling. I arrived in Christchurch at 11:30pm [View Full Entry]

By cindyatmonash
July 8th 2008

Melbourne Diocese Winter Convention! Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Anglesea

Family
So I adopted family at the convention: Peter (left) is my long lost brother and Ramy (middle) is my cousin :) Don't we look alike?!

Now while many of my US friends spent the fourth of July having an outdoor barbecue, watching the fireworks, and reflecting on what an amazing nation they live in, I spent the weekend with 80 university and graduate students at Anglesea Recreation Camp. Though not a patriotic trip of sorts, I had a wonderful time at my first Coptic University Convention in Australia! For those not familiar with the convention scene, Coptic conventions aim to bring together Coptic youth of the same age group and spend days in spiritual enrichment activities. These can be lectures from priests/bishops/leade [View Full Entry]

By cindyatmonash
July 2nd 2008

Round Two Rotary Meetings! Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne

RC of Rowville
Rotary Club of Rowville

The month of June found me tied up in finishing final examinations and planning some holiday travels. However, before I left anywhere I had the opportunity to visit several more Rotary clubs between mid-June and mid-July, including two clubs outside of District 7750. I've really enjoyed the opportunity to travel around the district and even within this region and hear the stories of Rotarians. Having the ability to interact with such high profile individuals who have given so much of their time, effort, and even their careers to the goals of Rotary is something that is truly humbling and [View Full Entry]

By cindyatmonash
June 29th 2008

Trip to Canberra, Australia's Capital City! Oceania » Australia » Australian Capital Territory » Canberra

Old Parliament House
There was a display on the wives of previous and current Prime Ministers of Australia

One of the places that I wished to visit while here on my Rotary scholarship was a trip up to Canberra. When I met Louisa Dow, a Rotary Peace Fellow who's going to Duke in August, she offered to let me come up to Canberra and visit her. I spent four days touring all around Canberra. For a city that has a population of about 330,000, the city was very unique and you could definitely tell there was an architectural difference in style. The story of Canberra's birth is very interesting: during the time where Australians were trying to decide on [View Full Entry]

By cindyatmonash
June 20th 2008

Exam Time Fun! Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne

Angie's 21st
Me and Angie, one of my best mates, at her 21st birthday party

Hi Everyone! It has be a long time since I've posted. Last time I posted, we were beginning our exam period (the month of June). Well while everyone was studying and taking their finalls, we squeezed in a bit of fun :). Exam month lasted from 6 June until 27 June, but luckily I finished up on the 5th! Some of the fun things we did included cultural dinner nights, trips to the city, and some hall activities. Though it was hard to keep quiet while others were taking exams, we all really enjoyed getting together and de-stressing after exams were [View Full Entry]

By cindyatmonash
June 2nd 2008

Round One Rotary Meetings! Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne

RC of Hampton
Rotary Club of Hampton President Lorraine Huddle

Hello Everyone! I can't believe we have already come to June 2008! Time is passing by very quickly :) Well, in the past few weeks, we have turned in all of our papers, presented all of our projects, and taken any unit tests...we are now in EXAM time! I have to say, I really lucked out with my timetable this semester, because both of my exams will take place this week (2-6 June). During my time off, I've planned a few exciting travels, lots of Rotary engagements, and some volunteer work...which I'll probably post more pictures and stories about, as they [View Full Entry]

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