If you are a student interested in joining us abroad, you might find yourself having similar thoughts to Callie Cole, a junior at the University of Alabama, who never thought studying abroad in South Africa would be a part of her college experience.
It was just a typical Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa sitting on my sorority’s chapter room floor. Another guest speaker that makes the meeting last an extra twenty minutes. The speaker is a super bouncy girl who is hype to tell us about some study abroad program she has gone on. She told us about the great adventures and life lessons she gained on her trip with Go Global, but no way a trip like that could be for me. Her trip sounded amazing but I thought was totally content with spending my summer at home. I wasn’t the girl who could hop on a plane and go around the world on a trip with a group of people I didn’t know. I thought I was content with doing the same old thing so I brushed the idea off. About a month later I was eating lunch with a friend, she somehow convinced me to skip my next class and head to Starbucks with her to meet up with Go Global’s trip leader to talk about the different trips they offer. As we were listening to her stories of Cape Town I found myself asking more and more questions. How much is it? When will we leave? Is my dad going to think it’s safe? I had to stop myself. I didn’t come here to ask about a trip for me, I was just coming with a friend so I had a good excuse to miss class. But here I am, the girl who could never hop on a plane knowing no one, sitting in South Africa typing this post. I had signed up for the trip and my friend hadn’t. I’m now the girl ready to spend the next five weeks having the adventures of a lifetime!
