Cape Town

As a representative of my university’s Office of Education Abroad, and now as a Blog Correspondent for IES Abroad, I spend a lot of time talking about my experiences studying abroad. 

“When I was abroad…”

“*Insert city of your choosing* is my favorite place on earth.”

“I met friends for life!”

“Classes were so easy!”

“I got to travel, like, every weekend!”

“One word: food.”

And everyone’s all-time favorite…

“Abroad changed me.”

These are all things that we study abroad vets say to one another, to our friends, to our family, to anyone who will listen. Even those of us who are above it all are guilty of spilling our guts about their abroad experience once or twice, and have probably gotten teased for it a bit. 

“Ohhhhh, did you go abroad?”

“I couldn’t tell from your Instagram!” 

“Wait...let me guess...you went abroad.”

These are all the sounds of the white noise that surrounds the study abroad experience, and I’m sure you have heard or even participated in making that noise. Now, this is not to say that many of the things people say and share about their study abroad experiences aren't true, or that it is okay to brag about it, or on the flip side, that it is okay to tease someone for it. Rather, this is simply to encourage you to overcome it. I challenge you to, instead, think about why you should/want to/might/do/have study(ied) abroad.

But I want to make one thing clear—some truth about studying abroad—above that white noise: you should absolutely, without a doubt, unquestionably, study abroad if you can. For those of you who aren’t sure, who can’t decide, who are afraid, who are nervous, who are shy, who have never traveled, who are intimidated, who are hesitant: we were all you once! And now...it seems to be all we talk about. Don’t you at least want to see if all that white noise is true? 

Jokes about study abroad student and alumni stereotypes aside, I am here to tell you the truth about studying abroad, from my perspective. 

From me to you. 

What does studying abroad mean to me? 

To me, studying abroad is an expedition of the world and the person that I am within it. 

Thanks to the experiences that I have had overseas, I have grown to know myself within the contexts of the people, perspectives, art, history, economies, cultures, and more that make up our world. And I wouldn’t take back those opportunities for a minute. 

I got this mindset from my parents growing up, with and by whose passion and wisdom about travel I have been both blessed and inspired. You see, both of my parents worked in hospitality, which gives a lot of context to the wanderlust I seem to have inherited. 

My mom always says that:

Travel is the key to understanding human beings. It is how we learn to respect one another. It brings people together.  

And my Dad: 

Travel is our spirit and livelihood. Never forget to just explore.

I’m paraphrasing, as these lines are ones that have come up within and between story tidbits of journeys, business trips, and adventures alike, through which my parents have grown their love and passion for travel. 

Yet, my love and passion for travel is something that I have not only inherited, but developed. It has begged me to ask questions about myself, about why travel even means something to me in the first place. 

Do I travel for the quenching of curiosity?

Do I travel for the learning opportunity?

Do I travel for the people and the culture?

Or

Do I just travel for the sake of saying that I did?

Do I just travel for the Instagram pictures?

Do I just travel for the trendiness of it all?

For the sake of honesty, I’ll admit that maybe it’s a little bit of all of those things. But most importantly, I travel to be the best version of myself for others. 

I travel for learning about who I am in the world, for learning about how I fit in the world, for learning about what it means to be human in the world. I travel for love, for respect, for growth, for adventure, for confidence, for curiosity, for interaction, for new experiences in the world. I travel for the celebration of all of the things that I just listed. 

All this is to say that I strongly encourage that you do too. No matter what the white noise is around studying abroad, the experience is worthwhile. Not just for the sake of doing it, but for the sake of everything that the experience will bring to who you are, and who you can be for other people.

Like many students before me, when I decided to spend a semester studying abroad, I set a number of goals and intentions prior to my take-off. I actually documented some of those goals in one of my very first blogs—right here on this platform. Here are a couple of the highlights:

“Seek Adventurous Ways to Learn

Just as much learning can occur outside of the classroom as it can occur within it. As I enter into a new environment full of new learnings to be sought after, I hope to find them throughout my experience, beyond the comfort of the classroom.

Be. A. Sponge.

As I go into a semester that will push my comfort zone and my typical personal surroundings, I hope to be as open as possible. There will be so much to learn from the landscape, from the locals, from my teachers, and from my peers, and I hope to absorb as much as I can.”

Yet, as a result of the unprecedented nature of the times amidst the coronavirus pandemic, I and many other study abroad students across the world were called back to their home countries. Having to leave my study abroad program in Cape Town, South Africa two months early meant that I didn’t have the opportunity to fulfill these goals and realize these intentions completely. As a result, a lot of the t’s and i’s of my experience have been left uncrossed and undotted. 

But, what I’ve realized, is that they do not need to stay that way. 

Upon returning to my hometown, there have been a number of ways that my learning experience has changed. 

I am no longer on the University of Cape Town campus. 

I am no longer even in a classroom. 

I am attending classes and doing assignments online, and from the very familiar comfort of my home.

But that does not mean that the adventurous, spongey learning has to end. My study abroad experience does not need to be over. 

I set goals at the beginning of this journey to 

“seek adventurous ways to learn”

and

“be. a. sponge.”

And despite the given circumstances, I choose not to lose sight of those goals. 

While I may not be sitting in a classroom in South Africa, surrounded by South African students, it is still possible to learn about South Africa from afar. Thanks to the nature of the technologically gifted and globalized world we live in today, I have access to the resources to continue to learn about and through Cape Town, South Africa. Whether through:

• bringing my all to my partner project with a South African classmate in our Professional Communications course
• staying invested in the South African context and perspective from which my Religion and Society, Consumer Behavior, and Archaeology: The First People courses are being taught
• reading the copy of Nelson Mandela’s Prison Letters that I picked up in the airport bookstore on my way home,

There are so many ways for me to interact with the nature of my study abroad experience. Through doing the things listed above and more, I will continue to learn from my South African peers and professors (and Nelson Mandela himself in his book!) about the educational, communicational, religious, cultural, economic, historical, and political contexts of studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa.

With my eyes still focused on the same goals and intentions that I set at the beginning of this semester, I look forward to the learning and growth that I will continue to gain through my study abroad experience, therefore crossing those t's and dotting those i's. That way, when I return to South Africa one day in the future (because Cape Town, I’m not done with you just yet!), I will return with learnt insights in my back pocket and see its existence through that lens.