[Music]
what would you do if you were given the
opportunity to travel to another country
and live there for a year where would
you go would you even go would you be
able to leave behind your friends and
family to travel to somewhere new and
unknown four years ago in the summer of
2013 my family and I did just that and
it was a sort of a new chapter my life
of trying new things and saying yes
during the summer of 2012 a year before
this adventure
my parents mentioned to my siblings and
I that possibility of a year-long
exchange trip to Australia however as a
12 year old all I could think about was
how I was missing my Grady graduation my
cousin’s wedding and all of my friends
let’s just say I wasn’t too thrilled by
the proposition I was scared and I
didn’t want to leave behind my family to
travel somewhere into an unknown however
my siblings and ice threats did nothing
to stop my parents they thought that
this would be an incredible experience
for us and we have so many new
opportunities in Australia that we just
couldn’t get here and so in July 1st
2013 we hopped on a plane and travel
across the world to a new country and a
new home little did I know that stepping
onto that plane and out of my comfort
zone would change my life forever before
we left my parents mentioned to my
siblings and I that a year from the word
our word for the year would be yes and
that we were gonna try as many new
things as possible we were gonna do our
best to not let our fears get the best
of us for my sister and I the fear of
getting eaten alive by a shark or
getting bitten by a snake or a spider
was very real one incident within the
first two months of our trip that had
absolutely nothing to calm those fears
after driving 16 hours north through the
outback and the desert and the red dirt
we arrived in National Park upon
arriving we stopped at the information
centre to get some advice about what day
trip to do and what did we see when we
walked up to the front door well of
course it was a sign about all the
deadly snakes in the area and how to
recognise them me and my sister were a
little worried but we went in anyways
and after talking to the guy at the
front desk my dad asked him if he could
say anything to calm our fears
he stood up leaned over the desk looked
into her eyes and said there is nothing
I can do to calm your fears there are
deadly snakes in the area and so stay on
the
trails at this point me and my sister
were a little bit more worried but we
tried to ignore it and we sat down on
the hike to a beautiful waterfall after
getting back that afternoon we decided
to check out another Canyon where we’d
be staying the following day after
coming back to the lookout we came
across a snake and me and my sister
started to freak out but to be honest I
don’t remember much after what happened
but I do remember my dad turning around
and just letting us know about the snake
and telling us to stay calm although
nothing bad happened we vowed that we
would never go back there again however
my dad convinced us with a little bit of
ice cream that this would be a great
experience for us and so we set out the
next day scared but hopeful that it
would be as good he said it was needless
to say that hike was probably the best
part of our two-week trip up north after
scaling down this rocky pathway we came
to this huge pool and met a family there
who had also been in exchange after the
spending the day with them we found out
that they were from Perth the same city
that we lived in and throughout the year
we connected with them a couple of other
times as well as men tears at their
cottage from his experience I learned to
do my best but my fears behind me
because worrying wouldn’t make my
situation any easier it actually made it
a whole lot harder if I hadn’t have
pushed past my fears of getting eaten by
a snake which seems ridiculous now I
never would have gotten to see that part
of the country or meet that family who
became one of our really good friends
while away I also learned how to try new
things in my everyday life sports are a
big thing in my family and while ye
wanted to try as many of the traditional
Aussie sports as we could such as
surfing and field hockey surfing was a
total dream come true
I loved the beach which is one of the
things I missed the most and the feeling
I got when I was surfing was truly
unique although it was really difficult
at times I never wanted to give up and
by the end of the year although I was by
no means an expert I could get up and
ride a wave that feeling of freedom was
something I look forward to every time I
went out surfing and I hope I get the
opportunity to do it again feel cocky
though was another story when I was
little I played hockey for a year before
decided to try something new it just
really wasn’t for me however in saying
yes my
my sister and I had Club down the road
and we were set up to join now we showed
up our first practice excited a little
bit nervous and we found out that there
was no one there we were a little
confused but when we got back home we
realized we had gotten our time’s wrong
and I had missed my only chance to
practice but before my first game the
following Saturday I was terrified had
no idea what I was doing and I didn’t
want to let down my teammates however
when I got there I was surprised at how
much my teammates actually wanted to
help me and get to know me I didn’t have
to be afraid I just had to go out there
try my best and have some fun throughout
my year I had the opportunity to play on
two different teams and spend a great
time with this group of girls still to
this day I have the opportunity play
here at school where he met so many
amazing friends and had so many really
good memories from trying new things and
experiencing new things in Australia I
was able to push past my fears and come
back here and get to play out for this
team if I hadn’t have done that I
probably never would have had the
courage to play through trying new
things and stepping out of my comfort
zone while I was away I was able to
experience so many amazing things
whether it was ziplining swimming with
whale sharks a ride a camel there was
always something I would have missed out
on if I hadn’t have said yes however
coming back home I want to continue to
live live out the journey life’s too
short to not try something new simply
because you’re too scared or don’t think
you’re good enough for it since coming
home I’ve had the opportunity to travel
more to speak in to Chapel and during
part of December and January I had the
opportunity to host an Australian
exchange student for five weeks coming
home and getting to share my country
with someone who’s experiencing
something really similar was really cool
and I looked forward to the day when I
got to see her again after high school I
hope to go back to Australia and
continued a little bit the adventure
however this time without my family
although trying the things and stepping
out of your comfort zone can be really
challenging at times it will change your
life as soon as you stop playing fear be
control and get in the way of things you
can experience all of the amazing
adventures that life has to offer you
can live your life every day with Noah
Gretz knowing that you try something new
and maybe you failed at it and learn
something new about yourself or about
life or you can
experience something new and conquer one
of your figures and be more bold so
here’s my question for you are you
willing to try new things and step out
of your comfort zone or you’re just
comfortable with letting the adventures
pass you by
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause] [Music]
what would you do if you were given the
opportunity to travel to another country
and live there for a year where would
you go would you even go would you be
able to leave behind your friends and
family to travel to somewhere new and
unknown four years ago in the summer of
2013 my family and I did just that and
it was a sort of a new chapter my life
of trying new things and saying yes
during the summer of 2012 a year before
this adventure
my parents mentioned to my siblings and
I that possibility of a year-long
exchange trip to Australia however as a
12 year old all I could think about was
how I was missing my Grady graduation my
cousin’s wedding and all of my friends
let’s just say I wasn’t too thrilled by
the proposition I was scared and I
didn’t want to leave behind my family to
travel somewhere into an unknown however
my siblings and ice threats did nothing
to stop my parents they thought that
this would be an incredible experience
for us and we have so many new
opportunities in Australia that we just
couldn’t get here and so in July 1st
2013 we hopped on a plane and travel
across the world to a new country and a
new home little did I know that stepping
onto that plane and out of my comfort
zone would change my life forever before
we left my parents mentioned to my
siblings and I that a year from the word
our word for the year would be yes and
that we were gonna try as many new
things as possible we were gonna do our
best to not let our fears get the best
of us for my sister and I the fear of
getting eaten alive by a shark or
getting bitten by a snake or a spider
was very real one incident within the
first two months of our trip that had
absolutely nothing to calm those fears
after driving 16 hours north through the
outback and the desert and the red dirt
we arrived in National Park upon
arriving we stopped at the information
centre to get some advice about what day
trip to do and what did we see when we
walked up to the front door well of
course it was a sign about all the
deadly snakes in the area and how to
recognise them me and my sister were a
little worried but we went in anyways
and after talking to the guy at the
front desk my dad asked him if he could
say anything to calm our fears
he stood up leaned over the desk looked
into her eyes and said there is nothing
I can do to calm your fears there are
deadly snakes in the area and so stay on
the
trails at this point me and my sister
were a little bit more worried but we
tried to ignore it and we sat down on
the hike to a beautiful waterfall after
getting back that afternoon we decided
to check out another Canyon where we’d
be staying the following day after
coming back to the lookout we came
across a snake and me and my sister
started to freak out but to be honest I
don’t remember much after what happened
but I do remember my dad turning around
and just letting us know about the snake
and telling us to stay calm although
nothing bad happened we vowed that we
would never go back there again however
my dad convinced us with a little bit of
ice cream that this would be a great
experience for us and so we set out the
next day scared but hopeful that it
would be as good he said it was needless
to say that hike was probably the best
part of our two-week trip up north after
scaling down this rocky pathway we came
to this huge pool and met a family there
who had also been in exchange after the
spending the day with them we found out
that they were from Perth the same city
that we lived in and throughout the year
we connected with them a couple of other
times as well as men tears at their
cottage from his experience I learned to
do my best but my fears behind me
because worrying wouldn’t make my
situation any easier it actually made it
a whole lot harder if I hadn’t have
pushed past my fears of getting eaten by
a snake which seems ridiculous now I
never would have gotten to see that part
of the country or meet that family who
became one of our really good friends
while away I also learned how to try new
things in my everyday life sports are a
big thing in my family and while ye
wanted to try as many of the traditional
Aussie sports as we could such as
surfing and field hockey surfing was a
total dream come true
I loved the beach which is one of the
things I missed the most and the feeling
I got when I was surfing was truly
unique although it was really difficult
at times I never wanted to give up and
by the end of the year although I was by
no means an expert I could get up and
ride a wave that feeling of freedom was
something I look forward to every time I
went out surfing and I hope I get the
opportunity to do it again feel cocky
though was another story when I was
little I played hockey for a year before
decided to try something new it just
really wasn’t for me however in saying
yes my
my sister and I had Club down the road
and we were set up to join now we showed
up our first practice excited a little
bit nervous and we found out that there
was no one there we were a little
confused but when we got back home we
realized we had gotten our time’s wrong
and I had missed my only chance to
practice but before my first game the
following Saturday I was terrified had
no idea what I was doing and I didn’t
want to let down my teammates however
when I got there I was surprised at how
much my teammates actually wanted to
help me and get to know me I didn’t have
to be afraid I just had to go out there
try my best and have some fun throughout
my year I had the opportunity to play on
two different teams and spend a great
time with this group of girls still to
this day I have the opportunity play
here at school where he met so many
amazing friends and had so many really
good memories from trying new things and
experiencing new things in Australia I
was able to push past my fears and come
back here and get to play out for this
team if I hadn’t have done that I
probably never would have had the
courage to play through trying new
things and stepping out of my comfort
zone while I was away I was able to
experience so many amazing things
whether it was ziplining swimming with
whale sharks a ride a camel there was
always something I would have missed out
on if I hadn’t have said yes however
coming back home I want to continue to
live live out the journey life’s too
short to not try something new simply
because you’re too scared or don’t think
you’re good enough for it since coming
home I’ve had the opportunity to travel
more to speak in to Chapel and during
part of December and January I had the
opportunity to host an Australian
exchange student for five weeks coming
home and getting to share my country
with someone who’s experiencing
something really similar was really cool
and I looked forward to the day when I
got to see her again after high school I
hope to go back to Australia and
continued a little bit the adventure
however this time without my family
although trying the things and stepping
out of your comfort zone can be really
challenging at times it will change your
life as soon as you stop playing fear be
control and get in the way of things you
can experience all of the amazing
adventures that life has to offer you
can live your life every day with Noah
Gretz knowing that you try something new
and maybe you failed at it and learn
something new about yourself or about
life or you can
experience something new and conquer one
of your figures and be more bold so
here’s my question for you are you
willing to try new things and step out
of your comfort zone or you’re just
comfortable with letting the adventures
pass you by
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause] [Music]
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