As I travelled closer to the border with Ukraine, fellow backpackers told me to stay out, it's still highly radioactive, it's too dangerous to go there. I don't think it could have made a starker contrast with clean, green New Zealand. It also struck me that New Zealand was a very wealthy country and that our prosperity is key to our quality of life. So back in New Zealand, with a new appreciation for this incredible country we live in, I switched to environmental science, and then I studied engineering while I worked full time. I wanted to put everything I'd seen and learnt to good use.