Study Abroad in South Africa Page
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Alice
: We got to go and talk to farmers on their land. We got to go and talk to people who had beenevicted following Apartheid to see how they were adjusting to the new country.
Angela
: OK.
Alice
: Being able to actually speak to the people whose, you know, lives were being impacted by policiesis something I could only do abroad.
Angela
: Oh, that's interesting then, too. Now, how many people were in your program?
Alice
: There were 10 from my school total. In terms of people who were studying the policy program Iwas, about six total.
Angela
: OK.
Alice
: Three boys, three girls.
Angela
: OK and did you have any students who were non-Princeton students with you?
Alice
: There were a number of other schools at the University of Cape Town. It's actually, in terms of African countries, one of the biggest places that people study abroad so there were people from TrinityCollege, Harvard, Washington University in St. Louis, all over the place. And a number of Europeanuniversities were there.
Angela
: OK. Great. And did you say it was one semester or two?
Alice
: It was just one semester.
Angela
: OK. Now, how did you decide to go abroad with that program? What made you decide to do itand how did you select your location?
Alice
: Well, with my major you were really only allowed to go study abroad in, probably there were aboutfour or five options. I mean, I knew that I wanted to study abroad. Of the options I had, South Africa was aplace that I had always wanted to go to. And just the opportunity to study in a place that's, you know, a newcountry in so many ways but an old country, was something I couldn't pass up. A lot of people tried tostudy abroad in a place where they think they'll have more of the comfort that they're used to, like they'llstudy somewhere in Europe or somewhere in Australia, even - places where you might be closer to thewestern culture. But I wanted something definitely very different from what I was getting at Princeton. So Iwas happy to be in Africa.
Angela
: Oh, that's great then. What would you say...what were your, well, I'm jumping around here, butwhat would you say was the best thing that happened as a result of your study abroad? What was the mostenjoyable or the most beneficial? What were the most beneficial aspects of studying abroad, for you?
Alice
: One of the best things was that I got to be independent in just sort of every way. Like, I wasindependent as a student where no one was, you know, looking over my shoulder to guide what I wasstudying. I really got to go out and explore what I wanted to learn on my own. But I was also independentin terms of, you know, living on my own in a new country, you know. I finally got to, you know, pay therent on my own for the first time. I was cooking on my own for the first time in a number of years, so it wasreally, really rewarding to get to explore this new country pretty much however I wanted.
Angela
: OK. Well, now that also leads me to what was the downside. Was there a downside for you?
Alice
: I think one of the things I was prepared for but could have, you know, equipped myself better forwas the fact that there's a lot of crime in South Africa.
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