I don’t think my brain can fully comprehend everything I’m about to do. I say that because when I think about it – and I mean really sit down and think about it – I get emotional. Of course those emotions are a little bit of fear, a little bit of nervousness and perhaps even anxiety but I think a lot of it is just overwhelming faith and belief that things really do fall into place. Honestly, that’s a notion that’s difficult to fully understand. This weekend I’ll be leaving for Grahamstown, South Africa for three weeks. While many college students study abroad for a semester, a year or some amount of time in between, I really feel like my trip is not about to just be another “study abroad” experience. I’m confident that I will fully engage with the community I’ll be living & working with and if that leaves an impression beyond myself, that’s more than I can ask for.
There has been a lot of research and studies done on Gen Y/Millennials that say we express a need to lead a life and have a career that benefits society in some larger way (see pg. 35 of this 2012 Pew Research Center report). Obviously that can misinterpreted when we see everyone feeling like it’s their personal duty to start a non-profit to solve a social problem (which is actually kind of discouraged). But at the same time I don’t think there’s a problem with wanting to experience something that’s bigger than you… to feel a part of a movement… to connect with humanity.
So when I consider all the forces that have led me to this position and the people that realized my potential, the family and friends that donated money to help make my travel possible and the institutions that have allowed me to be where I am, I am literally at a loss for words. My mind is blown.
I’ll be blogging my experience along the way partly because it’s required for my class but I also feel like I owe the people that have supported me for years, months or even days to share the amazing things that God has put into my life. Upon my return from South Africa I’ll be interning in Atlanta for two months which is a whole other mind blowingly exciting result of faith, determination and deliberate action that deserves it’s own background story.
If you’d like to know more about the community agency I’ll be working with in South Africa, check out Inkululeko’s website here: http://www.inkululeko.org/. If you’re really interested, I’ll also be reading these texts:
- Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography — The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa by Mark Mathabane
- Knowledge in the Blood: Confronting Race and the Apartheid Past by Jonathan Jansen
Thank you all for following along.
Skillin' it 