Here We Go!

For me, winter has always been a season for personal reflection. Maybe it’s because I have too much time on my hands with the weather usually too cold to carry out my normal activities, or perhaps it’s because I get a break from school and thus am able to think about things other than calculus proofs or essay assignments. Either way, I always spend more time in my own head during the winter than during any other season.

This winter, though, it was definitely a good thing. As I embark on a new adventure, I feel it was beneficial to spend some time thinking about what lies ahead of me. And while I know there are many things I can’t anticipate until I’ve set foot overseas, I already have some ideas about what I stand to gain from this experience.

Heading to the Rainbow Nation

Africa has always been of interest to me – that mysterious continent halfway around the world that is impossible to categorize since each country is fantastically unique. When I took a college course about South Africa, my interest grew exponentially and I now find myself preparing to spend five whole months there as a student at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg. I’m looking forward to an experience unlike anything I’ve ever known, and I’m expecting to be blown away by all the exciting and challenging things I will come across while there. I’m hoping to come home to my small town of Ithaca, NY with a new global perspective, and be able to apply that to my everyday life. I also want to make life-long connections and friendships with people I meet, and fulfill my sense of adventure. I don’t doubt that there will be challenges, among them living in a foreign country for such a long time. However, the biggest challenge I expect to face will be in completing forty hours of student teaching in an English classroom at the high school level. It will be eye-opening certainly, and perhaps heartrending (considering I have to come armed with school supplies) but the challenge will be worth it. And I do love a challenge.