With my study abroad trip to Africa with my university getting closer, I seem to be getting the same few resounding questions over and over, “Why Africa?” and, “Why only go because of the professor leading the trip?”
This professor is the one I go to when I have problems with everything. If I don’t understand something in geography, he usually has the answer or can help me find it. I never would have the opportunity to go to Africa otherwise. Never having left the country before, I can see where people have their doubts. However learning about the culture while in Africa is so much better than learning about Africa from a textbook.
The professor leading the trip is from Kenya. Even though we are going to Tanzania, not Kenya having someone from a bordering country makes me feel better about going over for the first time. Not only is he from a similar area as Tanzania, he also speaks the native language of Swahili. It’s very comforting that while I’m in a completely unfamiliar country I have him an arms reach away to help with language barrier if it gets too bad.
Going on a study abroad isn’t just for the country you happen to be visiting. It is about the learning experience you gain while in the country. If you come back from the trip and you didn’t learn anything then you didn’t accomplish anything. I’ve been asked, “You’re going to Africa, are you gonna see zebras or giraffes?” The answer is yes, I probably will see safari animals while I’m there, but that’s not the reason I paid thousands of dollars to go over there. I paid all that money so I can learn about a country that I would otherwise have no other opportunity to go to firsthand. The experiences and lessons I learn are the ones I will take to the classroom when it’s my turn to teach.
Being a girl who has always wanted to help people I also get the question, “Are you only going over to Africa just to help people?” The answer is no, I am not going over for the sake of helping others. If something comes up where we can help than that is amazing, but the main mission of our trip is to have fun and learn while we’re doing it. The professors leading the trip have been to Tanzania multiple times and know the perfect methods to show us how to learn in fun new ways.
Regardless of where you decide to go on your study abroad, I can promise that it will be something you won’t forget for a very long time. You will make memories with the people in your group that you go with that could change the way you look at different aspects of life. The girls I roomed with I thought I knew, until we got the opportunity to stay up until midnight taking about our childhoods and where we see ourselves in five years. I can’t wait to have the chance to go on another trip down the road.
