Rebecca on expanding her comfort

Several things should have given my parents clues that I would end up in Africa sooner or later: My sister and I watching The Lion King 2 every single snow day (even if we had multiple days off in a row), me wearing a leopard print prom dress to senior prom, etc.  Yeah I guess these are shallow examples, but I was trying (and failing) at a humorous approach to this topic.  To be perfectly honest I had no idea I would ever end up living in South Africa for an entire semester. 

           
Starting when I entered high school, I knew I wanted to spend a semester of college abroad.  My Auntie Rose, Auntie Lil, and Cousin Stephanie are always traveling and I was always jealous of the places they saw and experienced.  My Mom and Dad traveled a lot before my sister and I (wonderful, amazing, fabulous, exciting blessings by the way) were born.  I was, and still am, inspired by the spirit of adventure and curiosity found in their adventures.  So all this led me to my freshmen year of college where I began researching different study abroad programs.  I originally planned on traveling to some place in Europe, like many other college students.  I went in circles for months researching countries and international universities.  One day while I was in a group on campus called Honors Council, I out right asked the opinion of our awesome faculty supervisor.  Without hesitation she said, “Go to Cape Town.”  When I walked back to my dorm room I looked up the program, and UCONN in Cape Town skyrocketed to the top of my list.  I applied in the fall, and when I received my acceptance I jumped around my room screaming and cheering! 

           

I guess I wanted to share that with people because I personally believe that everything happens for a reason, and I hope that other college students will take a leap of faith and go somewhere atypical if they decide to study abroad. 

             

Now I’m here in our house’s dining room, having just come back from Johannesburg (one of South Africa’s capital cities) and Kruger NationalPark where I got to go on a safari.  Yeah, my spring break really rocked! I got to see animals like elephants, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, hornbills, and meercats.  I also went to the Apartheid Museum and the Hector Pietersen Memorial and Museum (the museum explored the South African student protests during Apartheid and if you want to know more do a little research).  This interactive, and alternative approach to education, helped me feel a connection to the history I was learning.  As a future history teacher I never want to stop experiencing different ways of educating, and learning. 

           

Speaking of learning, I always say I’m learning so much and that I feel as if I have changed in these last few months of being in Cape Town.  The problem is when I say this people want some sort of precise list that exactly points out how I have changed….I can’t give someone a list, and I seriously doubt I will be able to deliver such a list when I arrive home.  It is not as if I simply died my hair hot pink, grew five inches, and got a tattoo (don’t worry Mom and Dad I haven’t done any of that, it’s just an example!)  The changes I, and my fellow students, have made are not on the surface but are inside us somewhere (probably next to my spleen actually, ahaha just kidding).  It might be in the willingness we now have to fight for what we believe in, or a larger awareness of the world, stronger interest in the politics that affect our everyday lives, or maybe something like we realize the importance of having fun.  I’ve seen these changes in my fellow students and myself, yet even as I type them now they don’t capture the true essence of our change; maybe someone with a stronger vocabulary would be able to but I can’t. 

           

I guess what follows next is probably another random thought that I want to add to this blog.  While sitting in one of our amazing professor’s classes, we were working on a group project when the highly intelligent Theresa said “This program should be about expanding your comfort zone, not stepping out of it.”  I immediately had to write that down.  I had never thought of that before and it made so much sense to me.  My parents and I constantly discussed how my travel to South Africa would be me stepping out of my comfort zone completely because I am such a homebody, but not once did I ever think of it as me widening that comfort zone so I will be able to continue doing things like this for the rest of my life.  I hope that I will never be merely content with myself: I want to continue changing and growing.  Maybe other people will see that quote differently but to me this is what it means.  It encompasses what the true purpose of this trip will pose for me and the great people I am on this trip with. 

Rebecca expanding horizons as she plays with kids at the Boys and Girls Club in Soweto.