Student Bloggers

In big, bold, black letters on the Arcadia website, the headline to entice the reader to consider the program at University of the Western Cape (UWC) reads “Study where student activism made powerful democratic change.” As a Georgetown University student I also read from the Georgetown study abroad application brochure site that the democratic change comprised of students protesting “conservative white leadership, and apartheid in general…” While considering my options abroad, my first thought after combining the information about UWC from these two websites was Yep, this is the program for me! This and further research won me over in terms of what program to choose for study abroad because I was thrilled to study at an institution where the legacy of student-led protests is tied closely to my passion of protesting for structural change within an institution.

During the late months of 2015, students protested the rise in tuition hikes in South Africa. They faced rubber bullets, high-pressure water from fire truck hoses, tear gas, and other types of weapons to halt their cause. Students from University of the Western Cape, along with students from other universities in South Africa, were victorious in which there will be no tuition hikes in the upcoming year. I anticipate that these protests- that recently occurred at the University- will shape how orientation is facilitated and will be brought up in classroom discussions, especially in the classes I plan to take. One class I know I am taking is titled “Introducing South Africa: History, Politics and Culture,” where I along with other students participating in the Arcadia program will have a chance to reflect on current issues in the country. One issue I will definitely reflect on is student activism.

I major in Sociology and more unofficially African American studies and popular culture, if that was a major at Georgetown University. Many of the courses I have taken for my major focus on African American culture, structural oppression, and Black Feminism. I am glad to have chosen a program at a university that has a great selection of sociology and women and gender study courses that will make-up the majority of my class schedule for this upcoming semester. I am sure this semester, with the classes I’ll be taking and the experiences I’ll be having, will be promising and life changing, consequentially having a positive impact on my future career path.