Peter Aquino

Semester Abroad: July 2012
Host University: Monash University
Home University: Regis University

“Since I've been here I've entered 3 poetry slams and won 2 of them, I have taught poetry at a few leadership camps and I have featured at 3 local events as a featured artist. Also, I have been busking on the streets of downtown Melbourne and through that I have met and become close friends with some amazing dancers, including the world champion of the international competition known as Juste Debout.”

Can you tell us a little bit more about busking?

So busking is where I have improved most and met some of my best friends while here in Melbourne. One day I was just walking around the city aimlessly as usual and I heard some booming funky beats. So naturally I followed the scent and stumbled across a big jam with some poppers and breakdancers. I went up to them and asked if I could join in, and they simply asked me two questions:

“What Style?”
“Can you dig this song?”

I jumped right in the circle and since then I have been performing with this group. I mix my live djing in the set now and we all have a pretty good formula of what gets the crowd hyped now. But don’t get it twisted; even though most of us are unemployed we hardly do it for the cash. Music and expression is what we all live for, this is the power of dance. We are all connected because of what we love, and because of that it was super easy to fit in and become part of this family.

How did you find out about these opportunities?

I looked. Found. Dove. As far as dancing both in my school and on the streets I really did walk around searching for the right beat, because if there is one thing you must know about hip hop dancers, it’s that we are everywhere. Sometimes we are just a little hidden. As far as poetry goes I searched all around Facebook to find the poetry slam scene here. When I found it, I did the exact same thing: went and dove in. Since that first slam I have become an active member for the art scene in Melbourne and have gotten to perform at plenty of places. But no matter what, it’s all about just putting forth the effort. With most things, particularly arts, they are sometimes a bit hidden, but once you find them, a whole new world busts open. Like Aladdin.

How have these experiences contributed to your personal and cultural discovery abroad?

I have gotten to meet so many wonderful people from what I do and love, and have met plenty who share my passion. These experiences have made my stay here everything it has been; I have learned plenty about Australia, the people in it, and—I’m a poet, so of course I need to be cheesy—about myself. I am secretly shy, but once I don’t regret putting myself out there; biting the bullet is usually the best thing you can do if you want to grow.

How will you use this experience in your future professional endeavors?

I have grown a lot as a dancer and a poet, and I love not only performing, but teaching. Back home I teach poetry and dancing, so now I can bring everything I have learned here and hand all that down unda flavor to my students and friends waiting for me back home.

How did this experience help you adjust to life abroad?

It made me realize that no matter the distance or language or what side of the road we drive on, distance hardly means anything; you will always find people who share what you love as long as you look for it. Most people really worry about culture shock, but the truth is culture is certainly not something black and white. You can always find bits and pieces of the home you familiarize with wherever you are, and those bits make the huge differences much less scary.

What advice can you give to future students who are interested in being an active participant in their study abroad experience?

Simple: Don’t stay in your room. If you do, don’t lock your door when you’re there. Let whoever and whatever in, put a doorstop on that thing if you have to (personally I had to unscrew this stupid spring thing that automatically shut my door, but don’t tell the security or I’ll get fined). Go out and look for what it is you want. Plenty of people love the philosophy that good things come to those who wait, but personally I love the quote that “good things take time, but great things happen all at once.” Don’t ask where I got that or you will be sorely disappointed, it’s probably from some bad movie. But seriously, go out and do what you love. It’s simple, and only complicated if you make it as such.