Melissa making the best use of her time now that she's back

"Do you realize that your summer vacation is longer than your entire stay in Cape Town?" 

On our last class this news was shocking. After having gotten so used to "Cape Town time" and feeling like I could do anything not only was the reality of home slowly sinking in but after a semester of wonderful opportunities and the time of my life I was struggling how I would make the summer just as meaningful. Marita always reminded us that all we have in this world are time, energy, and resources and those three things kept coming back to me in various ways as was thinking how I would spend my summer. The time seemed daunting because I had learned how much change and insight can occur in what felt like forever on some days and a blink of an eye on others. 

A little over two months has passed since we've been home and not a day goes by that I do not think about Cape Town. It's crazy how little things can remind you of a night filled with music and fun or how preparing a meal can bring back memories of Braais and kitchen drama. Coming home has been one of those exercises of taking the good with the bad. I've been seeking the independence that I had in Cape Town while realizing that I have no money to support myself. As many of us have shared, living at home can be both great and frustrating. Aside from that, since I've been home I started working as a substitute teacher in the Westford Public Schools. It has been a privilege to compare the stark differences in resources and opportunities between this district, my home town, and Cape Town. I learned a lot about the challenges suburban schools face and after my initial disappointment and frustration with the endless shelves of books I was able to appreciate this. I was proud of where I grew up and happy that the students could benefit and flourish. Although some days I found myself lost in the classroom looking for markers or folders and I was irritated at what felt like excess stuff, I enjoyed the comparison I have been able to make. It shows me that everything comes with its unique challenges and strengths but also confirmed that adequate resources in schools are necessary. This perspective will carry through my summer job at the BELL Foundation. BELL serves students in the Boston Public Schools who are at risk of not passing and being promoted to the next grade. I'll be working with these students at an intensive summer enrichment program to help curb the learning loss which occurs during the summer. Once again, I find myself back in city schools. I love it there. In a school where students don't have text books and most rely on the government sponsored food each day I'm ready to help these learners thrive. I am excited to take all the skills I have been acquiring and apply them. Without my experience at City Mission my perspective on this situation would not be as clear or determined. 

As I think about Cape Town, the changes and challenges I could talk about are endless. From being a smarter consumer, to recognizing gender inequalities, and understanding communities I've gained knowledge that will guide me forever. That is why when I got home I applied and was accepted to the Masters in Public Administration Fast-Track program at UConn. This program will allow me to recognize community issues and apply realistic solutions to improving schools, businesses, and other organizations in the area. I am sure that I will take the skills I learned in Veron's class to critically evaluate struggling organizations and identify the proper next steps toward change. I hope to study more regarding race and policy through the lens of education policy and the achievement gap which I became more interested in through Marita's class. I am excited to apply what I know about international education to my interest in domestic education policy. This is an exciting time! 

While I could go on and on about this I must say, some of the best parts of this summer so far have no been my Introduction to Public Policy class or applying to graduate programs. I've loved sleeping late on the weekends and especially Dunkin Donuts iced coffee! When I wake up and get voice messages from my students I smile for hours. Those messages are the things that encourage me to get up and keep working to educate and serve. I have enjoyed continuing relationships that I built in South Africa and growing the relationships I have back home. I have been able to share my passion with my friends and family and also have fun taking trips to DC and Boston, rollerskating, listening to country music and enjoying the summer! So I guess, in two months I've made the best use of my time as I can and each day has had something meaningful.  Although... I still miss Table Mountain and minibus taxis. 

Avery ready to ignite that passion to work for positivie social change

It has officially been 6 days since I have left Cape Town, 5 days since I arrived in my own home, 4 days since I unwillingly unpacked my suitcases and realized I wasn’t going back to Cape Town in the next couple of weeks…. 3 days since I already had a fight with my friend whose opinion on the world is so starkly different from my own that I am afraid of how or if we will communicate now about issues that we both feel polar to. It has been 2 days since I visited with my grandmother and tried to explain in pictures what I couldn’t, until eventually I dissolved. 1 day since I went back up to UConn to see how life had carried on with my peers during the semester I was abroad and found that my friends had been active all semester with amazing causes- everything from UConn Amnesty to UConn Empowered.

             

Today- I am sick in bed, and so I am taking this brief moment of rest to close the final formal homework assignment for Cape Town. My last Blog Post, it has been challenging to write blog posts all semester because each one requires that we look at a situation and draw from it some ideas and conclusions as to how it affected us rather than simply noting that it happened. I’ve now got four months of summer break ahead of me- and in my mind I keep remembering how much was accomplished in Cape Town during that time. Its exciting- because potentially the same could be done here.

            

Perhaps it is now necessary to end the mourning period for Cape Town and instead let this ball of emotion in my stomach start to churn and turn into energy again. There are plenty issues in my own community.  In the light of the Boston Attacks some of that old group-blaming attitude has resurfaced, perhaps I may find a way to become involved with the Muslim community and better understand how even as American citizens they are still in many times of fear treated as scapegoats.

In my own University community we currently have a outrage against a female student who intelligently and rightfully spoke out against the worship of our basketball team. She asked that we, as a university, support the students who have been victimized on campus rather than uphold the so-called “values” of our sports teams. The response to her sensible plea has been appalling and disgusting. Threats have been made to this student as she attempts to go to class and the university continues to act as though there is not a startling rape culture on our campus, and even more hostility toward female students than is acceptable in a school where we make up 50% of the undergraduate population and deserve equal protection from the school.   

           

It seems that there are a few issues near and dear to me that I need to give attention to. I am excited to start work in my own country and within my own communities. The struggle with working in your own community is perhaps falling into the mindset that it can get done later- that if you don’t accomplish something today it will be a sure to do tomorrow. Perhaps just as we did in Cape Town I should take tours of my own communities- go into those school districts which I don’t yet know much about- those city streets I’ve been warned not to wander in. Maybe I need to listen to the stories told by people who are here and need the hand that I am ready to give. There is a campus full of students bursting with potential to make a difference in this world- I am in a prime position to strike the match that ignites a passion for some of them so that as a team this upcoming year we can effect some sort of change.

            

While in Cape Town I became quite fond of my project- Africa Acts Out. I named it this because of the play on words it had on the creativity that the program would include. The other reason was a quote that I have always been quite fond of, “well behaved women seldom make history.”  I agree wholeheartedly that groups of people who take up a cause and develop it into a full movement are the ones who make the change. I hope that in the near future I can keep up this momentum and desire to make the world a better place. That united, we can continue to Act Out.