Hi everyone! My name is Maya Santangelo, and I am incredibly honoured and excited to introduce myself as the 2016, and 10th Australasian Rolex Scholar! What a whirlwind journey it has been to this point, and an absolute dream come true. I cannot wait to completely dive into (and use more wonderful puns throughout the year!) this life-changing and eye-opening year ahead, and take on all the amazing opportunities and challenges the scholarship holds. A massive thank you to the continually overwhelming generosity and support of Rolex and the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society for making this incredible opportunity possible.

I’m really looking forward to sharing my experiences with you throughout the year – as well as keeping you informed about my adventures in the underwater world, I hope to inspire the same passion, excitement and love for our oceans in others, just as so many others, including the journeys of previous scholars, have done for me. I’ll be sharing stories, photos and videos of my scholarship experiences on this blog (click Subscribe for regular blog post updates!), as well as on the Facebook page The OWUSS Australasian Rolex Scholar, and my Instagram account @mayasantangelo.

I’ll start off by telling you a bit about myself, and how I’ve found myself about to embark on an adventure so incredible, and one I’ve dreamed of for so long, that I’m still working on wrapping my head around the reality of it all! I am a 24 year old half American/half Australian marine biologist dive instructor. I took my first breaths underwater more than 10 years ago, and I think it’s safe to say that’s right around where this whole grand adventure began. I was hooked from the beginning. I soaked up as much experience as possible, and quickly worked my way up to Instructor level. Infatuated with the ocean and eager to learn more, I studied marine biology at James Cook University, and jumped at the opportunity to work as a research intern at Lizard Island Research Station following graduation. I eventually found myself in Palau, where I worked as a dive guide at the leading dive center Sam’s Tours (also home to 2015 North American Scholar, Michele Felberg – go team Sam’s!). Diving and guiding as a marine biologist in one of the top dive destinations, as well as one of the most significant shark sanctuaries in the world, was incredibly rewarding, cementing my interests in predator ecology and conservation. About 8 months of consistently awesome diving and shark populations later, I was submitting the biggest application of my life… and soon found myself on a plane home to Sydney for my finalist interview! And the rest is history! … No I’m just kidding. (If you’d like to learn more about me, have a read of my bio!)

Fast forward to April and I was on my way to New York for the OWUSS Annual Awards weekend! Although I grew up in California until the age of 11, this was my first time to New York City. My first few days in the Big Apple were spent acclimatizing and exploring the city with my family. The exciting events of the weekend began Thursday afternoon, where I met my North American and European scholar siblings for the year, Chris Millbern and Felix Butschek (click their names for the link to their blogs), respectively, for a trip to Rolex USA Headquarters where we had our first glimpse and final fitting of our Submariner timepieces! We spent the rest of the afternoon with a fun trip to the Top of the Rock, soaking it all in before the big weekend kicked off.

 

 

 

 

Friday morning we attended the annual Board of Directors meeting, where we had the chance to meet the outgoing 2015 scholars Ben Buchan (Australasia), Michele Felberg (North America) and Danny Copeland (Europe), and be introduced to the members of the board. Listening to the 2015 scholars present their end of year reviews to the board was a great first taste of what to expect for the year ahead, as well as things to keep in mind to really make the most out of this once in a lifetime opportunity. Friday evening was our first event as unofficial new scholars, attending a wonderful dinner gathering at the Terrace Club, generously sponsored by the Divers Alert Network (DAN). An overwhelmingly warm welcome to the scholarship society family, this was a great opportunity for us to meet previous scholars, interns, sponsors, hosts, and all of the incredible individuals, from all corners of the world, that make this amazing non-profit, all volunteer organisation and life-changing opportunities possible.

The evening concluded with Chris, Felix and me being unofficially and hilariously (thanks to Michele’s laughter) “crowned” as new scholars by Ben, Danny and Michele, and generously presented with a diving medical pack by Patty Seery of DAN – thank you so much for your support and all that you do looking after divers all around the world!

Finally, Saturday, the much-anticipated big events of the weekend! The day began with the annual Symposium event, sponsored by Rolex, held at The Explorers Club. To be hosted by The Explorers Club, such an impressive society filled with so much history, passion and inspiration dedicated to exploration and science, was a huge honor, and highlight in and of itself.

Here we had the chance to hear in more detail about the experiences of the returning scholars and interns, as well as presentations from guests Richard Vevers of The Ocean Agency and creator of the XL Catlin Seaview Survey and Kelvin Murray of Silvertip Expeditions, to hear about the work they are doing in different fields of the underwater industry to support underwater research, exploration and conservation.

During the event, we also celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Rolex Scholarship in Australasia with a video put together by 2013 Scholar Stefan Andrews. In cased you missed the video in the previous blog post, you can watch it here! To top it off, we were graced with the honorable presence of none other than Her Deepness, Dr. Sylvia Earle, who shared an inspiring message of her experiences and the importance of taking action in ocean exploration and conservation. As new scholars and interns, we were also extremely privileged to be inducted as student members into The Explorers Club. A special mention to my amazing coordinator and mer-mom Jayne Jenkins who has been inducted as a Fellow of The Explorers Club for her work in the development of the Catlin Seaview Survey and dedication to preserving the marine life of Sydney – congratulations Jayne!

The 42nd Annual Awards Banquet of the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society was held at the New York Yacht Club on the Saturday evening. It was difficult to contain the excitement as Chris, Felix and I sat across the table from the Scholarship Society’s President, Mike Emmerman, Dr. Sylvia Earle and representatives of Rolex, looking in awe around the impressive trophy room of the Yacht Club. The inspiring highlight of the evening, and perhaps the whole weekend, was viewing the end of year videos of Michele, Danny and Ben (click their names to watch their videos). I couldn’t help but wonder what my journey would look like, and how I would develop as a diver, marine biologist and person over the next year. Introducing myself to a room filled with so many dedicated individuals and leaders, including so many that had played a huge part in inspiring me to this point, was a fantastic reminder of the hard work and commitment I have made to explore my passions as an ocean ambassador, and the opportunities that lay ahead of me this year to continue to challenge myself on this journey.

      

 

 

We wrapped up the weekend with a bagel-filled sunny Sunday brunch at the beautiful home of Mike Emmerman, where new and alumni scholars were treated to the privilege of some parting words of wisdom and inspiration from Scholarship founding member and leadership extraordinaire, Dr. Joe MacInnis. It was time to say goodbye to Chris, Felix and new friends, and disperse to all corners of the world, full to the brim with excitement, inspiration, bagels and excess baggage, heading into what is sure to be the adventure of a lifetime.

What an incredible week! The entire whirlwind of events of New York blew away all expectations, and was way more fun and memorable than I ever imagined. I had such a wonderful time meeting everyone from the scholarship family, making fantastic contacts and new friends/dive buddies, and feeling beyond honored to finally be a part of it all. Thank you so much to everyone that made this so special.

I can’t wait to share my experiences throughout my scholarship year, and I hope you enjoy following along. So much more to come!