A Little Background

Today is a pretty significant day in my book--exactly one month from today (almost less than a month now since I am writing this at almost midnight), I will be on my way to Cape Town, South Africa.

I wanted to start this section of a blog as a place for me to share my adventures with friends, family and loved ones back at home while I am off experiencing all that Cape Town has to offer. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I plan to share my greatest moments here as a way for me to remember and a chance for you to keep up with me while I am gone for six weeks.

A brief history on how I came to choose Cape Town:

While I was attending HWS for freshman and sophomore years of college I had dreamt of studying abroad in some lovely european city with easy access to numerous other cities--a way for me to see ALL of Europe in one semester so to speak--isn't that every students dream while studying abroad?

I applied to three programs in the fall of my sophomore year (an Honors program in Maastrict, Netherlands; Galway, Ireland; and Copenhagen, Denmark).  I was accepted to the honors program and decided that it would be the most academically rewarding program and a special opportunity for me to represent HWS.  However, I did not feel the excitement I was hoping to feel upon receiving my acceptance letter.

Since I ended up transferring to UR this past fall I gave up my spot on the Netherlands program--a decision that took much consideration since I have ALWAYS known that I wanted to study abroad.  I was left with the excitement of starting at a new school but also serious confusion over if I was missing out on a major part of college and letting go of one of my biggest dreams.

Come this past winter I knew that I had to go abroad.  The travel bug had bitten again (not to sound completely ridiculous) and I decided to apply to an internship program in London, England where  I would expand my work in public health by working with local hospital administration.  I was dead set on studying in London and told everyone I knew that I would most likely be going. While applying I came across the IES South Africa program and on a whim decided to apply as a backup.

By the time I had finished both applications and awaited a reply from the abroad office, I had this instinctual feeling that I belonged in South Africa not London.  My acceptance letter came a day or so later and I can remember the feeling of joy, excitement and the strong desire to go up and yell to every person I passed that I was accepted--this was the feeling I had always thought I would have and I knew at that moment that I would accept South Africa despite my acceptance to London.

So here I am, one month out from boarding a plane to South Africa.  I am beyond excited (though I'm sure you know this already) and cannot wait to pack, board and arrive!