We Want to Hear from YOU!

ISA, Interstudy‘s partner organization, has had an awesome student blog since 2009. The ISA student blog has served as an open forum for ISA students to explore all aspects of the study abroad experience through stories, photos, and other media, and will now serve the same purpose for Interstudy too! The goal of the blog is to help prospective students get an inside view of what life is like as an ISA/Interstudy participant so they can make an informed decision about which study abroad location best suits their academic and personal goals.

A Scholar Among Us!

The Gilman Scholarship awards offered for Summer 2012 have been announced.

Congratulations to Interstudy student, Kellie Lam for winning an award! Kellie will be studying at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College (Durban) this Summer.

Read more about the scholarship and how to apply here: http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

Great American (Irish, or South African) Pastime

It’s opening day at Fenway Park in Boston, and there’s a buzz of excitement as a new season of America’s greatest pastime begins. Sure the home team isn’t doing so well yet, but any true Red Sox fan would tell you, “they’ll get better”. Baseball holds a special place in American history, as does Fenway Park itself, which is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary this year.

I asked two of Interstudy‘s Resident Staff members in Ireland and South Africa about favorite pastimes in their countries. Here’s a look at what you should expect to see on TV at a local pub near campus:

Interstudy Mentors in the News

Interstudy mentors are making headlines in South Africa. We, of course, had to share! We’re proud of John and Kline for their great work – congratulations to them both!

• John Flanagan, a former Interstudy student mentor, was awarded the Mandela Rhodes scholarship for the completion of his Masters degree in Agriculture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg. The Mandela Rhodes scholarship is awarded partly on academic performance, but to a greater extent on character, including leadership abilities, a love for people, reconciliation, entrepreneurship and education.

• Kline Smith, a current Interstudy mentor on the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, has changed the face of his university. Now who can say that every day? Kline, an Honours Drama and Media Student, won a Tagline Competition hosted by the Marketing Unit. According to the University, is contribution will be acknowledged by generations to come as the words “Inspiring Greatness” are embedded in the brand essence of this great Institution.

Local student mentors are an integral part of the Interstudy Program in Southern Africa. Mentors are carefully selected by the Interstudy staff to offer a local student perspective for our students. Mentors are usually in their second or third year of university and are able to offer advice to students on campus life, local culture, and general orientation questions.

Ushaka Land: A Poem by Melissa Brodie

Melissa Brodie, an Interstudy student from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College (Durban) Summer Program, shared this poem with us about her time in South Africa last summer. Nice work Melissa and thanks for sharing!

Ushaka Land

“Sawbona Sissy!”
“Yebo,” I answer grinning.

Hamba Kahle, For Now

I’ve been home for three and a half weeks now, and sometimes I think that the five months I spent in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa was all some wonderful kind of dream. I mean, how could I have squeezed so much into so little time? Student teaching in a township, making tons of ceramics (which, by the way, were great gifts for friends and family) hiking into Lesotho, cage-diving with the Great Whites, doing the world’s highest bungee jump, hiking Table Mountain (twice) trail rides on horseback – this could not have been my life. But every now and then I wake up and think I’m back in the dorm at UKZN, or try to text a South African friend, and it dawns on me that it really did happen…I really did just have the most incredible experience!

First Lady Michelle Obama in South Africa

Interstudy students participating on the Interstudy Summer Program to the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Howard College just missed a run in with the First Lady of the United States! The First Lady, Michelle Obama, and her daughters Malia and Sasha were visiting in South Africa yesterday with a rare visit with Nelson Mandela, according to the NY Times. The family also visited the apartheid museum and the township of Soweto, where Nelson Mandela grew up.

Early Action Raffle Winners

Please join us in congratulating our 2 Early Action Raffle Winners for the upcoming Summer and Fall semesters! These students were chosen at random from amongst the Interstudy applicants who applied by the early action deadline (March 1 for Summer, and March 15 for Fall):

Melissa Brodie, UMASS Boston
Summer Program: University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College (Durban)

Stephanie Clemens, UMASS Boston
Fall Semester: Queen Mary, University of London

Note: it was entirely by chance that both students came from the same school!

R & R

The funny thing about studying abroad is how much it makes you think about home.

After all, to immerse yourself entirely in another culture, you’ve first got to clamber out of the pool of thoughts, norms and expectations that was your home, and boy, is the view different once you’re out of it.  As a girl who goes to a pretty competitive university in the United States of America, I can definitely say I’ve uttered a few of the expected “Woah, that’s not how they do things in the States”s while studying in the ultra-laid-back city that houses the University of KwaZulu Natal. This isn’t either a good or bad thing (usually,) just a different thing. I think to try to encompass every difference I’ve found here would just be too much for one little blog post (heck it might be too much for one little book,) so I’ll focus on one aspect of Durban culture that I’ve still not completely managed to wrap my head around: relaxation.

How to Spot an American

 

Wearing raincoats and backpacks. Using a camera. Having a sunburn. Walking in groups of more than three. These are just a few of the things that immediately mark us as Americans on the UKZN campus in Pietermaritzburg. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been introduced to someone and the first words out of their mouth are, “Oh, you’re an American, right?” My go-to response is now, “Which gave it away, the sunburn or the backpack?” This is not to mention our accents. The professor of my Introduction to Zulu class made fun of how we pronounced a list of English words, saying if we don’t know how to speak English properly, how can we learn Zulu? Good question.