- My name is Remy. I grew up in Brazil.
And now I live in Australia, in a place that feels like paradise.
I grew up in big cities with big buildings of 16, 20 storeys.
So really, coming here, and I saw this, for me, it was unbelievable,
because it was just another reality.
Being able to drive half an hour and go to a waterfall,
and just spend the afternoon there, swimming and watching the wildlife,
that was really something amazing for me.
This is Cairns in Queensland, Australia, on the Great Barrier Reef.
I think, for me, Cairns is peaceful
because it's nice and quiet.
It's also adventurous at the same time
because you can do so many different things in the wild.
I've always really been into diving.
I thought the Great Barrier Reef would be the perfect place to go and visit.
So I decided to come to Cairns for six months as an exchange student.
I came to Trinity Bay State High School.
The education system is quite different, so I really enjoyed being able
to pick the classes that I was more interested in.
For example, I picked marine science, which ended up being awesome.
- Hey, Remy. - How are you doing?
- Good to see you. - Good to see you, too.
- What's it like being back at Trinity Bay after this time?
- Oh, it's great to be back here, just see all the classrooms.
It just reminds me of five years ago that I was in those classrooms.
- Rami was one of many international students that we get at the school,
but Rami really stood out for me, as well.
And I remember him being passionate about our marine science course.
So Cairns is amazing because we have the rainforest,
which is World Heritage and ancient,
but we also have the reef, one of the seven great Wonders of the World.
And it's right on our doorstep.
We do this wonderful mix
of doing science in the real world, but when you take 50 students
and they're from Germany, Italy, Brazil, China, Japan,
they all come together, and you give them those wow moments,
it really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
- There was actually quite a few excursions.
So they did white-water rafting, they went into the rainforest.
The one I did was a trip to Orpheus Island with the marine science class.
Being able to literally wake up in the morning, walk down the beach,
and on one side you'll have the mangroves,
with the baby sharks swimming around,
on the other side, you'll have the reef, where you can just go for a snorkel,
it's almost overwhelming, that feeling, because sometimes you're in places
that have such amazing natural wonders
that you don't know where to look cos everywhere you look
is just something different that's completely mind-blowing.
When I was on Orpheus Island and I had this experience,
it was definitely one of the turning points that made me decide
as soon as I graduated from high school, I was already coming back to Australia.
And I decided to do JCU because of that experience.
I started off studying marine science,
but after my first year, I switched to aquaculture.
Getting us all wet. At JCU, in the aquaculture facility,
we have that contact with animals, like barramundi or the Queensland grouper,
which then, going into the wild,
if I go fishing and catching the barramundis,
it's actually a feeling, like, completely unbelievable.
It's a feeling of achievement
that I managed to finally catch my first barra,
and I was getting a little bit more Australian because of that.
I think Australia is one of the safest countries you can be.
As soon as I arrived, I felt very welcome.
My host family was very lovely and they made me feel home.
What I really enjoyed, as well,
was the fact that they would take me out and visit places around.
We went up to the Tablelands using the railway,
up to Kuranda, and then down with the sky rail.
We also went down to Mission Beach
and that's where I started feeling that family feeling from them.
- Hey! - How are you doing?
- Good to see you, mate.
Since I came back to Australia for university,
I try and catch up with them as much as possible.
We go out for dinners and have a great time together.
I really still have that good relationship with them.
- What fish is that one? - I think that's a dogtooth pufferfish.
It's good that even though I'm away from home,
there is still that feeling of home here.
I'd definitely say that being a student here, an international student,
in Australia has changed my life.
A great feeling to be able...
to go somewhere and realise that that's what you want to do
and that's where you wanna stay.
So I'm pretty glad I ended up coming here
because I found my true passion and my true career.