My experience in South Africa this past quarter is an unforgettable one. I do not think I even have enough words to describe the entirety of the impact studying abroad has had on my life and perspective of the world. It has changed me as a person, woman, and student. I made lasting friendships that I know I will forever cherish, hugged elephants, worked at a refugee center, went to a different university, continued the journey to loving the skin I am in and so much more.
Just like with any new experience in life, studying abroad had its major challenges. One of the challenges I faced was adjusting to a new culture that is different than mine. I had to adjust being in a new school system where classes had around 200 students. My average SCU class has around 20 students, so I had to readjust my study techniques while there. It was intimidating walking in to a class of hundreds of students and even more intimidating to raise my hand, but I ended up figuring it out with the help for the professors and other students. Another challenge I faced was living in a house with 20 other people where the majority were white. There were many times that I felt excluded just like I have felt at SCU, which is a predominantly white institution. There were some students who were not cognizant about their white privilege or white fragility which impacted the people of color in the house. Although this was a challenge, I learned a lot about myself and others. I learned that there can be so much empowerment found within a community of people of color. The conversations that I had with others in my house and with South African locals made the difficult conversations about race feel like I had people who understood me.
Along with challenges, I also had major successes. One of the most important successes for myself is that I recognized that I am a lot stronger than I think I am. I flew across the world to a country I had never been to and lived there for almost five months. That is something I didn’t think I would ever do but I successfully completed it. I am very proud of myself for that. Additionally, I was able to make lasting connections and friendships with people from South Africa. The people I met at school and the Cape Town Refugee Center positively impacted my life. We had conversations that were hours long in which I learned so much about South Africa and its culture and my friends learned about what it meant to be Mexican in the United States. These conversations are invaluable to me because it is what taught me the most about the country I was living in. Another success I had was feeling like I became more aware of my own identity. Being with others from a different culture as well as other students from the United States caused me to reflect on what it means to be a Mexican woman. I was the only Latina in the program so when conversations about race arose, I was made aware of how unique my experiences as a Latina is in many aspects and I learned to love this about myself.
My experience abroad has also impacted my thoughts about my vocation and career. I was placed at the Cape Town Refugee Centre for my service learning project twice a week. There were challenges that came with working here too since the major funders decided they were no longer going to provide financial assistance to the CTRC, but the clients I met made this placement worthwhile. They are some of the most resilient people that I have met. Their journey to South Africa as a refugee is a difficult one and then they experience xenophobia in South Africa, but no matter their situation they have found a way to persevere. This placement made me further realize that I like to advocate for people’s human rights. Refugees deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, just like anybody else. It was not up to them that they had to leave their country, but yet the government does not treat them the way they should. I am extremely passionate about fighting for a equitable future for those that have been historically marginalized. I also enjoyed being in charge of projects that I knew would positively impact the lives of our clients. This made me think about searching for a career in which I can be a manager of people for an organization that is fighting against injustices.
