By Courtney Tinkler:
Hey Everyone! I am currently the SportWorks Officer working in the Turks and Caicos Islands as the Development Officer for Turks and Caicos Islands Rugby Football Union (TCIRFU). I have been on Island for 3 months now and I am definitely not the same person I was when I arrived back in September. Having already been lucky enough to do two exchanges in University, in both England and Australia, I thought I had the travelling/living in a different country down. However, since being on Island I know that isn’t the case as this experience has been very different. From the people, weather, island life and food, culture shock is something I deal with every single day and its awesome. You learn a lot about yourself when everyday you are forced out of your comfort zone and into someone else’s way of living. I love waking up everyday wondering what new experience I will get to deal with, especially at work. My main job is developing youth rugby in TCI, which I do by going around to the public schools throughout the week running rugby sessions and having a youth day every Saturday at our home pitch. Working with the youth has been very rewarding and humbling as I get to see how excited the kids get over the something as small as their team scoring a try or gets an awesome tag from the other team. The kids I have been working with since arriving three months ago have definitely made this experience a special one and i’m very thankful for my time with them playing a sport that we love.