Ainsley finding more than hoped for

My name is Ainsley Bryce and I am currently a junior at UCONN. I recently transferred from College of Charleston but quickly made the decision to spend my second semester at UCONN in Cape Town. I am a history major and hopefully will double major in human rights by the time I graduate in spring 2014. After graduation I plan on doing a one-year masters program to get my teaching certificate but after that I’m not positive I will start teaching right away. I would love to travel the country and work in under privileged areas like inner cities, Native American reservations or even abroad. This semester I will be interning at Thanadakhulu Secondary School with world history classes.

Before leaving for South Africa I really had no idea what to expect because I had never traveled to a place that compared to Cape Town. But when we arrived after almost 24 hours of travel I was so relieved to see the mountain behind the airport and Marita and Vernon waiting for us in the airport. The past few days have felt like a dream as we have settled into our houses and began exploring the city. It’s such a different culture and environment but I am so excited to feel like I know what I’m doing in this amazing city and learn more about how to live in South Africa. Besides the unreal scenery, architecture, and nature, I am so excited to begin working with people within the city especially those who are less fortunate. Because this place has such an amazing atmosphere, it seems to be such a polar opposite to see some of the poverty that we’ve only barely been exposed to but I am ready to see all the city and country has to offer. The people I’ve come with have made this initial impression all the more unbelievable. We all come from such different backgrounds and with different reasons for coming and somehow they all manage to make this trip more than I ever could have hoped for.