There is Nothing More Rewarding Than a Trip Abroad
Today's guest blog post is by Nate Merrell, a member of the incoming Class of 2018. He attended Rochester's Pre-College Programs two years in a row, participating in the study abroad programs in Malawi (2012) and Samoa (2013).
Travel is one of the most important things anyone can ever do. Travel opens the eyes to new ways of thinking; it forces you to think from a culturally relativistic standpoint, while changing your entire worldview. Travel puts you in uncomfortable situations that serve as monumental learning experiences. In short, there is nothing more rewarding than a trip abroad.
Two summers ago, I applied to the Malawi Immersion Summer Seminar. I was looking for a way to spend a part of my summer doing something more valuable than hanging out at the beach. I knew I wanted go abroad because I love traveling; however, I wanted to travel differently this time. This time, I wanted to travel as a learner and an explorer rather than a vacationing “resort-goer.” The Malawi Program was the obvious choice. It promised everything I could have asked for in a meaningful, life-changing, educational and unrealistically fun summer, and I was not disappointed.
Upon returning from the trip, I knew I had just experienced one of the most important and rewarding experiences of my life. I had seen the Southern Cross high in the night sky on a pitch-black cloudless night, and I had heard the hyenas cackling in the distance while I lay safe within my house under my bug netting. I had sung Malawian songs in church, and learned how to grow a sustainable food supply. I learned about the problems the Malawians faced on a daily basis, and got to experience them for myself. By the end of the trip, I had learned more about ethnographic fieldwork, the real world, and myself than I could have ever hoped. I made connections and friends with people living in a community halfway around the world, and I even learned how to speak parts of their language. I learned through interviews and cross-cultural exchanges, how different life is in the village of Gowa, and how fortunate I am to have been a part of it, if even for a short while. The lessons I learned and the things I observed genuinely changed how I see the world, and I will never forget a moment of my stay with my Malawian family.
The next summer after my Malawi adventure, I saw that the University of Rochester’s Pre-College Programs had added another study abroad opportunity, this time in Falealupo, Samoa. As a result of my incredible experience in Malawi, I wasted no time in applying to the Samoa Immersion Summer Seminar. The trip proved just as remarkable as the Malawi Seminar had been, with a radically different environment and culture. The fale in which I stayed was less than five hundred paces away from the single most beautiful stretch of beach in the world. The water, which was such an important part of daily life for me during my stay, was crystal clear, and revealed the vast reef below. I met some of the most fun loving and sincere people I have ever met, ate delicious food (Samoans love their food), and had more fun than I could have imagined, all the while conducting interesting ethnographic research and experiencing a completely different way of life.
I would spend my days interviewing the locals on my research topic, learning about Samoan culture, and experiencing a Samoan church service. In the evening, the sunset lit up the entire sky with shades of red and orange, while I would sit on the beach and go over the day’s events, interviews, and field work in my journal. When night fell, I would be back at my fale with my homestay family and we would play volleyball under the most magnificent stars you have ever seen, before a new, unique, and very tasty dinner. My research about the cultural cognition of diabetes in Samoa merged medicine and psychology, two of my favorite fields and possible career paths. I enjoyed every minute of the trip down to the completion of my final ethnography back at home in Massachusetts.
These two adventures that I have been fortunate enough to be a part of have changed my entire worldview, provided me with undeniable people skills, and knowledge that far supersedes anything I could have learned in a classroom. The memories will stay with me forever, and I hope I am able to relive them once again someday. If you have the opportunity to participate in one of these programs, you have my full-hearted recommendation. The people you will meet, the places you will see, and the relationships you will form will stay with you forever. I like to compare my two seminar trips to the following proverb: “He who lives, only shall live his life; but he who experiences shall live the lives of thousands.”