Back from South Africa

Now well into September, and with fall soon on the way, I am now well into my last year at Grinnell College. Soon I will be filling out job applications, editing resumes, you know, all the stuff a college senior is “supposed” to be doing.

During this process many people have already begun to ask me the same recurring question: “What has been your favorite part about college?” For many, this may seem like a challenging question to answer. Me? I can answer it without a hint of doubt.

Studying abroad in South Africa with the Organization of Tropical Studies was the best decision I’ve made in college.

Over the course of the three and a half months I was abroad in South Africa I got to see it all—from the animals of the Kruger National Park to the remote villages of Hamakuya and mountains of Cape Town.

Take the image above as an example. This photo, taken in the Kruger National Park, was a stunning example of the incredible wildlife South Africa has to offer. And this was only one of many such sightings! I suppose that if I had to sum up my experience I would simply say I was pushed to my limits, both academically and socially, but that I have emerged a better person as a result!

When I graduate in May, I will be able to say many things about what I have gotten to experience in my four years in college. But the experience that will be most memorable, and the one I will be most proud of, can only be one thing—being a part of the OTS African Ecology and Conservation semester in South Africa.