Introduction from Nellie

Aloha! My name is Nellie, I'm a junior majoring in Sociology & Women's Studies. The anecdote I always tell when people ask, 'Why South Africa', is this:

  

 An angsty freshman saunters into Marita's office excited to declare her Women's Studies major, completely unaware of the journey it would take her on. After a few hours of inspiring conversation the topic of study abroad comes up, she proudly states, 'I want to study abroad in Australia!', Marita furrows her brow and asks, 'Why?' She responds that it would be nice to trade a Storrs winter for nice beaches. Marita smiles knowingly and coyly asks if she knows what a Blue Flag beach is, she shakes her head no, Marita takes her iPhone off of the desk and shows a photo of coastal paradise, and boasts, South Africa has 29. After an hour of Marita's best heart-filled Cape Town plug she leaves the building floating on air & calls her mother & informs her that she will be going to Cape Town in two years. 

If you had not already guessed the aforementioned freshman is me, and that is really how I decided to come to Cape Town, honestly there was no real decision, it just clicked in my head that this is what I would do, and I've been counting down ever since. Her enthusiasm of this program and genuine love of South Africa ooze out of her pores, and over the years I've gotten just about as excited and ready for a trip that a person can be. As a sociology major, South Africa is mecca for studying the construction of race, deviance, and culture. I'm still undecided what my honors thesis will be on & I have the feeling that I'll leave this trip with a clear idea in mind. 

I'm an RA on campus & after three years of living and working in the freshman grotto, frankly I'm just excited for a change of pace. I'm going into this trip with the attitude of just saying 'Yes'. To opportunities, adventures, outings, yes, yes, yes. African sunshine here I come.

Marita was also the person who introduced me to the idea of the summer study abroad program in Guatemala, which I had the fortune of participating in (with Dan actually!) last summer which was a truly amazing experience, I've been told this experience will blow it out of the water so I'm really excited to get on that plane tomorrow!