Vara will apply knowledge gained

Our last class was super sentimental and important as a reflection process. Sitting in the room I took one last look at the layout, the students, and of course the couches seating 3 or more as we all like to compete for seats. One important part of class was to hear everyone's reflections on their activist project and I was amazed by the various projects everyone had accomplished.

Yet, what I found most interesting was when we did an exercise to reflect on our thoughts and feelings of the semester. We were instructed to pick one statement out of the two read that most describe our experience. If you were between the two, that was also a choice.  

The questions provoked interesting discussions about how we managed friendships with locals, or how we saw the world now. More specifically one question asked about how people treated us as students from the United States, commonly known as "Americans" (but excluding all other North and South American countries). The question asked if we faced stereotypes or criticism being from the U.S. I thought about the question quite a bit because I had received varying responses about being from the states. Some people thought that I must walk on gold streets and others brought up interesting points about our military approach.

We all thought about how we can connect our experiences here to those back home regardless of stereotypes. The U.S. in fact is very similar in areas of poverty, gender based violence, treatment of the disabled, etc.  Avery brought up an interesting point though. She shared that some people may say, "Stop doing things in other countries when we have a lot to do in our own." This is a reoccurring comment that is partly true; we do have so much we can do for the U.S., but at the same time I think it is important to acquire a more worldly perspective of each issue.

During our discussion on activist projects, it was raised that someone learned a new way to combat an issue in the U.S., suicide prevention. Through her internship she was able to see a different angle of the problem and an innovative solution. The same applies as a rebuttal for such a comment. There are so many lessons to be learned by studying abroad. One can open their eyes to new approaches and opportunities. There are several ways to combat an issue and by coming to Cape Town, I was able to gain a greater understanding for women's rights and the struggle for true equality. Then I can go home and implement that knowledge. So next time someone claims that I can do the same at home without traveling. Yes, I can work to solve problems in the U.S., but by gaining a greater and more worldly perspective, I can better address those same problems. 

Vara entering her future