South Africa Savanna Semester
Through the Organization of Tropical Studies, housed within Duke University, I traveled sublime South Africa with 25 fellow students from a diverse swath of the United States and South Africa. The journey took me to five national parks, three metropolitan cities, one rural village, and many encounters with an extraordinary people and wildlife. The highlights of the four months in the Rainbow Nation included two independent field ecology research projects (on beetle spatial patterns and vegetative cover), one faculty-led ethnographic study on resource use in Venda villages, a massive insect, herpetofauna, and plant collection, and real world experience in field techniques and research approaches. On the whole, the semester was the most formative experience in my life, and has helped shaped my interest in further study in Africa.
Understanding Personal Values and Motivations
In South Africa I developed my core leadership philosophy and was inspired by the landscape and people toward my three main aims: ecology, global citizenship, and advocacy. I witnessed the struggles of my homestay family to attain water as climate changes induced droughts and forced families to start paying egregious sums for a basic right. Researching vegetation cover and photographing beautiful wildlife everyday reminded me of the great risks climate change poses to the savanna and fynbos, motivating me to fight for these wonders. Before I went to South Africa I cared about the environment, but seeing it for myself, breathing in the dust, smelling the dung, and feeling the dirt, left a deep imprint on my soul. As I move toward my career goals and aspirations, I am determined to make a difference through the privileges I have been afforded and make an indent in solving the challenges of our generation.
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Maintaining Personal Health and Wellness
Before going to South Africa I knew the value of self-care, but would always emphasize late-night studying over good sleep, or more hours at the computer instead of an active break. As part of my semester I got a taste of a less busy life, disconnected from my obligations of extracurriculars and jobs at home. My group had afternoon sport regularly and I ran with a few folks many mornings. I made sure to sleep early and wake up as the sun rose to catch the best glimpses of wildlife. I found myself full of energy each day, and greater focus than ever before. The semester was a reminder of the power of self-care every day, a tenet I strive for each day after I have returned. To have a fulfilling, vibrant life requires active care.
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Zest for Life
Early in my semester I acquired appendicitis and was hospitalized amidst one of my research projects for a couple days. From that point on, I was determined to stretch myself and live my life to the fullest. I tried many new things, hiking the beautiful Blyde River Canyon, shark cage diving, surfing, game driving, birding, activities that brought energy to my life. In my research projects I dove into the study with full bravado. I collected beetles in the hot 30C+ weather, stayed up late into the night reading about landscape ecology, and challenged myself to explore new ideas with professors. South Africa was an excellent location to live passionately. As I departed I was determined to take this purposefulness and apply it back at home, every day. Now I try a new adventure in Seattle every week, and challenge myself to apply to new opportunities, dive into my work, and live for my passions.
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Ethical Practices
I have always held high ethical standards for myself after years of martial arts practice and my strong faith in the central tenets of Judaism. Researching resource use in Venda communities challenged me to practice these ethics with people. I interviewed several people in the village of Musunda, Ha-Makuya for my faculty field project. While we planned this process I made sure to remind everyone of the importance of asking for consent, and we promptly printed consent forms for our interviews and observations. Throughout the process of my homestay and research in Musunda, I consistently discussed with my fellow students the implications of our research and the methods we could best use to be sensitive of our subjects - human beings. This real world experience provided me a deeper perspective of all the research that I read in anthropology, and other scholarship. I am now conscious of the methods, and try to live my life thinking about the lives of those I try to work with.
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Initiative
Living in a group situation for over 100 days, I found it important to take initiative. My head professor even made a lasting statement on the first day: "you have to live outside what you think is possible for yourself." I found opportunities to take on leadership roles that were not necessarily expected. For example I took on the role of a social committee member, even though I represent a less extroverted personality. I thought it was important to speak for different perspectives and experiences on the social side of things. It was a challenging role for me and I learned to be a better listener, collaborator, and friend through my experiences planning social events. As I live my life back in Seattle, I still try to take initiative when it is needed, or even when it doesn't seem that necessary, but can enhance an effort. Especially when working with groups I have found that initiative is critical to make the leadership process more effective.
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Collaboration
Each semester groups are formed to come up with a final research project. I was interested in working on a landscape ecology project, while others were interested in an insect morphology project. At first we had disagreements, but eventually we merged our topics and collaborated. In the process I learned the importance of clear, open communication, expectations, and agendas. The final research project also challenged me to find ways to be kind to my group mates when they struggled, utilize strengths, and understand group members from their perspective. Collaboration is always a process of growing, and in a world where we collaborate constantly and increasingly globally, I am always finding these new skills to be especially beneficial. Whether I collaborate across thousands of miles or with brilliant individuals in one office, I have found that communications, clarity, and open-mindedness take one far.
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