Friends and family,

For each student of the Australian Delegation, to pinpoint the exact moment when the Fourth successful PASTA USA Tour 2001 began is impossible. For all of us, this Tour, like its predecessors began with a dream. The dream became a reality and our experiences will now become the catalyst for many more opportunities for student leadership and involvement. This Tour not only served as an opportunity to advertise and recruit for ISRC 2002 but it also strengthened relations with Bordentown Regional High School, the Canadian Association of Student Activity Advisors (CASAA) and justified the adoption of Australia into the N.A.S.C. family, under Region 7. Moreover, each delegate has grown from our once-in-a-lifetime experience. Without doubt, we have all been most fortunate for being given and having experienced this wonderful opportunity.

The hardest question that I have ever been asked was, upon our return, "So what did you learn?" The difficulty I face in answering this question lies in my inability to summarise all we, collectively, and individually learned into something shorter than War & Peace. With each moment of the tour we were learning. Everything from the sensational 'big is better' at N.A.S.C., to the everyday nuances of American teenage culture. For example driving on the 'wrong-hand' side of the road and even ordering 'fries' - to the cohesiveness and goodwill of the American student leaders and the approaches they use to motivate and inspire their student populations. To say it has been overwhelming would be an understatement.

There are so many individuals who supported us in our quest. Obviously our wonderful families and friends who ate untold kilos of chocolates, supported our fundraising, kept the dream alive when fatigue set in and were there to see us off and greet us on our return; our Schools, teachers, SRC members and fellow students who enthusiastically said ìgo for itî and took notes when we missed class; our sponsors who believed in us and what we were doing. Thank you all!

Most importantly, we would like to than Ken and Sue, Ralph and Ellen. It is difficult to describe what they did for us and in how many ways they supported us. They nurtured us, disciplined us, cared incredibly for us, bought us ice cream and were the closest thing we all had to family. At N.A.S.C., although they didnít stay with us we were aware and acknowledge their commitment to us (and future Tours) saw them working and organising and attending meetings long into the night.

Ralph's light-hearted and humorous approach to so many situations is responsible for maintaining our sanity on many occasions, when we all felt overwhelmed. Without Ellen, we technically would never have returned home! When we were just 'going with the flow' she in fact was directing it - no mean feat. Our Tour Mum, Sue was in fact our 'mum'. She cared for us when we were ill, supported us when we were weak and quietly and gently encouraged us, throughout the whole trip. Personally, I know I would not have survived the SYLC in Canada with its stark contrast to the NASC, its isolation from loved ones and all its mental and physical demands, without Sue being there for me. And then there is 'Pops'. Ken taught me some of the most valuable life lessons, at times just in a conversation, and at other times in having to bring us back to reality and reminding us of our duties. His job was tough. All his actions and words were necessary and valuable. I hold Ken in the highest regard.

As for Charles and Greg - in Hawaii, during our de-briefing session we recognised and acknowledged the incredible time, effort and enthusiasm invested by these men. However, the problem lies in the fact that Charles and Greg weren't in Hawaii to receive these accolades! On behalf of the Students, who were nurtured into proud representatives of their Country and were the recipients of an incredible amount of love and literature, I thank you both.

THE TOUR - The Positives and the Not So Positives:

The Orientation Meeting at Gorokan High on 21/22 April this year was invaluable. Although Ken and Sue generously travelled to Tasmania to brief Alicia and Kirby, both girls, and Tim Rutzou of Scots College Albury, felt it would have been less inhibiting for them had they been there to meet and get to know everyone beforehand.

The cancellation of one of our flights from Atlanta to Philadelphia resulted in a much- needed rest. However on our arrival in Bordentown we were treated to Six Flags Theme Park, which boasts the worldís steepest roller coaster. Although the cancellation of the flight was no-one's fault, perhaps the itinerary should allow for a less physically frantic first day. However, this was a great experience of American teenage culture and I believe this was necessary before we became involved at N.A.S.C.

The relationship with Mike Nolan (Student Council Teacher Advisor) at Bordentown Regional High School, New Jersey is excellent. Compared to Epping Boys' High 1,100 students, Bordentown is quite small. However they were excellent hosts and adopted our Delegation as their own. Like our Houston Hosts (Klein Forest High), our experience with Bordentown High School has shown us how we should prepare (what works and what doesnít work) for a proposed small American delegation that would arrive in Australia in April 2002.

Travelling to N.A.S.C. with the official New Jersey Delegation was a worthwhile experience as we forged new friendships and shared student experiences in a more intimate environment. This, however only mildly paved our way for the Charlotte venture.

The N.A.S.C. experience for every Australian delegate was exciting and overwhelming - mainly due to the constant and insistent attention given to the Aussies, as well as the manner in which this Conference was run. It was in complete contrast to our own State Conferences. Vast amounts of money had been spent. We knew this because we were advised that the Conference expenditure was in excess of $1 million (U.S.?). We also knew this because of a wall plastered with sponsor advertising. However, I understand the host school (Providence High School) had to contribute over 50% of the cost. The harsh reality here is that Australian State Schools could not possibly compete or even provide this level of commitment to its students with State and Federal Governments that do not fully financially support public schooling. Moreover, any fundraising by the schools is committed to much needed maintenance and expenditure.

My personal experience at the N.A.S.C. as 'President', was, I believe, to be unique, compared to that of the other delegates. I understood well at the Orientation that the only reason we selected a President was that N.A.S.C. required this position from every state. This title gave me so many more opportunities and to an extent I feel sad that my fellow delegates were not able to experience them because of two words "State President". Although I was not able to attend any workshops, during this time State Presidents were able to converse and exchange ideas in Region meetings, were taught motivational techniques by 'Mr Phil' and given an insight into how the Student Council System of each individual State operated.

One of the most rewarding experiences of being President of our delegation was to complete construction of and witness the dedication ceremony of the 'Habitat House'. Whilst all other delegates were involved in other community service projects, the 54 State Presidents completed the finishing touches on the house that 'N.A.S.C. Built'. The Habitat House was a community project initiated by the organization 'Habitat for Humanity'. Not far from Providence High School North Carolina is a small suburb - Matthews. A section of this suburb is devoted to the building of ìHabitat for Humanityî homes for the disadvantaged. The privilege of completing a project on which so many had volunteered their time, services and sweat was a great honour, and to be doing this on my birthday was even better. I felt very humble. We need to find out if there is an initiative similar to this in Australia. From personally experiencing how this project built spirit among the State Presidents, and witnessing from videos how it brought youth from across the region together, this type of project stands out as one that would be beneficial to everyone.

I understood from our other delegates that they were somewhat disappointed with the lack of relativity of some of the U.S. workshops, eg. "How to organize a Homecoming" However this lack of relativity was only to our culture and us. It works for the American student and really highlights how important an event, such as the homecoming, which is a large spirit-builder with student involvement, is viewed by students, staff and administrators. Whilst other figures like a school spending over $80,000 on a Prom is something quite unrealistic to us, what I find mind-blowing is that a parental committee in fact raised this figure. It was explained to me that this financial commitment by the parents was by way of a 'thank you' to the student body for all they have done for the school.

To rate the success of the Australian workshops is difficult. Whilst our presenters commented that there was consistent audience participation, the novelty of hearing the 'Aussies' speak seemed to take precedence. Disappointing. There is of course the question of cultural comparison. Were our topics relevant? Everyone was well prepared.

Overall, the whole itinerary was fantastic and an enormous learning curve. We were exposed to so many different aspects of student leadership, teaching, and student counsellors and in essence, American culture.

Despite the positives I felt the Canadian experience was unfairly contrasted to N.A.S.C. owing to several factors. Firstly, it was back-to-back with the N.A.S.C. We were all extremely tired. Secondly, being taken from a hyped environment of over 1,500 student leaders to a 23 member group was somewhat disappointing (an instant and stark reminder that the N.A.S.C. was over). As well, for several of the Canadians, this was their first camp, which for us meant a repetition of much earlier material. Notwithstanding, the teamwork involved and the application of lessons learnt into physical challenges was most rewarding.

I am unable to comment first hand on the experience at Lake Tahoe although the Australian delegates have informed me that it was a wonderful experience - very spiritual. By most people, it was described as a "Banana Powerish" camp, which would have to be a plus. American Student Leaders are usually only available to go to either N.A.S.C. or a National Leadership camp (NLC) so it felt like a continuation of N.A.S.C. on a smaller scale.

Welcome to Houston! With the Canadian crew arriving one day prior to the Lake Tahoe people and the four Bordentown girls who would accompany us during our time in Texas we were given one day to rest and shop for the essentials. It was very welcome. All our host families in Houston, and indeed throughout the Tour were truly generous and fantastic. We thank them all.

It seemed that Texas was the beginning of the wind down period. Whether it was purely Texan culture or our exhaustion, everything seemed to be a little slower! Whilst the opportunity to visit historical places such as the Houston Space Centre and Galveston was culturally brilliant, we as a student body believed that we should have done more 'work', such as gaining a better knowledge of the Texan Student Council System. We literally had only a one day session of question/answer with the complete Klein Forest High Student Council. Still, a lot was gained.

Stop Press! We noted that the size of Klein Forest High School was unbelievably large. One area of the school that caught my particular attention was the drama auditorium with seating for 1,000. Currently Epping Boys' High is endeavouring to fundraise over $1 million to construct such a (much-needed) facility. I was advised that, in fact, Klein Forest High's auditorium was paid for by funds from the state government, who do not fund private education.

Arriving in Hawaii was bitter sweet. Sweet as in the sense "yes man, we are in Hawaii", and bitter that this is the beginning of the end! What we realised through our de-briefing in Hawaii and our final days together as a family was this, in fact, is only the beginning.. and where to go from here?.

We all acknowledge that we have real challenges facing us as student leaders in our schools. How does student leadership become part of the curriculum? How can our ideas be heard and hence become a reality? How do we motivate the student body?

On behalf the Australian Student Leader Delegation I thank all those who made this dream a reality. The experience has been life changing.

Dedicated to:

Anna, Ruby, Lauren, Jamielle, Heath, Amie, Emily, Richard, Alicia, Rey, Jackie, Tim, Kirby S, Alfie, Joel, Kirby W, James, Lisa and Mimi

Lachlan Wallage
President - 4th Annual P.A.S.T.A. Tour
65TH N.A.S.C. Conference
email: u2563245@anu.edu.au