For Kinross Wolaroi School alumni Jessica Wright, her experience was half a world away.

When Ms Wright graduated in 2011, she packed her bags and flew over to rural Malawi to teach at a high school for a year.

“I always knew I wanted to do a gap year after school and I wanted to do something a little different,” she said.

“Teaching seemed like the perfect thing.”

Her experiences inspired her to pen a travel memoir called Fotorise Me Madam.

The book contains a collection of personal experiences, photos and interpretations as well as facts about Malawian culture, language and history.

Ms Wright also shared some of the perspective she gained along the way.

“It taught me to take advantage of every opportunity because I’m really lucky and to appreciate the small things,” she said.

“The reason the book is called Fotorise Me Madam is because the kids always said that to me,” she said.

“They were so excited to have their photo taken, it would make them so happy.”

Ms Wright said the people in Malawi were “friendly, open and cheerful”.

“They always made us feel welcome and helped us adapt to Malawian lifestyle,” she said.

“For example, since we had no running water, the locals taught us how to carry a bucket on our heads – which is considerably more difficult than it looks – so we could collect water from a bore hole around 600 metres from our house.”

“Every day was a new adventure with new stories to tell – from the school children we passed each morning asking for a photo to learning the local dances or tasting new foods.”

Inspired by the experience, Jessica went on to pursue an undergraduate degree in international relations, human rights and photojournalism.

She intends to pursue a career in education and international development and will be studying for her masters degree at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

She will talk about her travel memoir at Orange City Library on Wednesday 26^th April at 5.30pm.

Bookings: Eventbrite.com or 6393 8132.